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GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 
CELEBRATION 



GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 
CELEBRATION 

BY THE PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY IN 

HONOR OF GIDEON FRANCIS HOLMES 

PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS 

MARCH TWENTY -SEVENTH 

NINETEEN HUNDRED 

AND NINE 




PRINTED BY THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 



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FOREWORD 



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FOREWORD 

THE history of the Plymouth Cordage 
Company is a continuous story of great 
accomplishments and of wonderful 
growth from small beginnings. Its organiza- 
tion in 1824 was a small affair, or at least would 
so be counted to-day, but the event has been 
made notable by its notable results. 

Likewise, incidents have occurred in its career 
which at their happening seemed hardly of 
sufficient importance to excite even passing 
remark, but which have been made remarkable 
by their consequences. On March 28, 1859, 
one such incident occurred — the Company 
engaged a new office boy — surely nothing 
remarkable in the regular course of business. 
But because that small fifteen-year old chanced 
to be Gideon F. Holmes, there was held on 
March 28 of the present year a unique cele- 
bration to mark an occasion which itself, we 
believe, is unique in the industrial annals of our 
country. The office boy, who fifty years ago 



[8] 
to-day began his duties under the eye of the 
Company's founder, Bourne Spooner, rose to 
the highest executive position in the organiza- 
tion, and for twenty-seven years has been its 
guiding power and moving spirit. 

So it was no more than fitting that upon this 
golden anniversary day officers, stockholders, 
and employees, with other business and per- 
sonal associates, should unite in offering their 
congratulations to Mr. Holmes and in wishing 
him many more long and successful years. 

The principal feature of the day's celebra- 
tion took the form of a banquet held in the Com- 
pany's newly constructed number three mill, 
the entire upper floor being given over to the 
purpose. 

Nearly two thousand people sat down at the 
well-laden tables, and after the repast followed 
the most impressive and interesting part of the 
day's exercises. Straight from the hearts of the 
speakers came the tributes of honor and affec- 
tion to Mr. Holmes, and they were echoed from 
the responsive hearts of all the audience. 

The peculiar interest which the occasion held 
for all present and the indications that it was of 
interest to many friends, business and personal, 




PRESIDENT LORING MR. HOLMES IN HIS 

AUTOMOBILE 

MR. HOLMES' PRIVATE OFFICE 



[9] 
who could not attend have led to the preserva- 
tion in the following pages of the messages there 
delivered. 

That our celebration and what it stood for 
were matters of more than private or local in- 
terest is indicated by the attention received from 
the press. An editorial in the Outlook of April 
17, 1909, presents a broad view of the spirit and 
significance of the event. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Foreword 7 

"Well Done!" 17 

After Dinner Program 23 

Address of The Hon. George G. Crocker .... 29 

Address of Mr. Richard McLean 37 

Address of Mr. William Lowell Putnam 41 

Address of Mr. Gideon Francis Holmes 45 

Address of Mr. B. Preston Clark 55 

Address of Mr. Edmond J. Lindsay 63 

Address of Major Thomas S. Hobbs 71 

Address of The Hon. William M. German, M.P. ... 81 

Address of The Reverend W. W. Dornan, D.D. . 87 

A Fifty-Strand Lay (E. D. Ver Planck) 97 

"Lines " (W. K. Heath) 103 

Committees 107 

Sketch of the Life of Gideon Francis Holmes . . 113 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Gideon Francis Holmes Frontispiece 

(Photogravure) 
President Loring, Mr. Holmes, and Mr. Holmes' Private 

Office Facing page 8 

Early Views 18 

Plymouth Cordage Company in the United States and in 

Canada 30 

Visitors Alighting from Special Train — Anniversary Cele- 
bration 46 

Scenes at the Banquet 56 

Serving- Women, the Band, and Waiters at the Banquet . 64 

Employees' Library — Loring Reading- Room 74 

Three Views of Number 3 Mill 88 

Spinning and Rope Making Machines 98 

Scenes at the Banquet 108 

Gideon Francis Holmes 113 

(Reproduction from oil-painting by Gaugengigl) 

Three Early Pictures and Birthplace of INIr. Holmes . . 120 

A Group of Labor Day Show Pictures 126 

Mill Number 3 132 

Harris Hall — Office Building 140 

Ball Field and Tower of Mill Number 1 146 



WELL DONE! 



Editorial Pkinted in "The Outlook," 
FOR 17 April, 1909 



WELL DONE! 

ON March 28 a boy of fifteen, named 
Holmes, entered a rope factory as an 
office boy. He swept the office, ran 
errands, and helped in hauling rope to the scales 
and tagging it. That was fifty years ago. Last 
month, on the 27th, the Plymouth Cordage 
Company set a holiday and made a feast. It 
gathered together — employees, stockholders, di- 
rectors — and, with some five hundred guests, 
it held a jubilee. In the huge hall on the upper 
floor of one of its factory buildings it collected 
nearly two thousand people, over fourteen hun- 
dred of them workers in the factory with brain 
and hand, and set them down to tables spread 
with good things to eat. At one of the great 
unoccupied stretches in this hall there was a 
band of musicians — all of them connected with 
the company ; and their martial music and tune- 
ful airs resounded from the distance. This big 
commercial organization was honoring Gideon 
Francis Holmes because he had given fifty years 
of good and faithful service to humanity. The 



[18] 

men who spoke at the end of the banquet praised 
him for his ambition, for his efficiency, for his 
success in rising to the place of treasurer and 
manager, and for his value to the Company ; but 
it was perfectly clear that they were thinking all 
the time of the man as a servant of his fellow- 
men. Among the speakers was an old man, 
bent, white-haired; as spokesman of the em- 
ployees he presented to Mr. Holmes a loving 
cup and a gold-headed cane. And as he spoke 
seven other aged men rose and stood. These 
eight had all been in the Company's employ 
when that office boy began his tasks, and they 
were still on the roll of the Company's em- 
ployees. When a portrait of Mr. Holmes was 
unveiled, there was cheering; as there was 
when Mr. Holmes himself spoke, or rather read, 
simply his words of reminiscence. In the even- 
ing, after the guests had visited the works, there 
was a time of social gathering with dancing in 
the great hall. As Mr. and Mrs. Holmes led 
the "grand march," followed by directors of 
the company and their wives and employees 
and their wives, the observer could hardly have 
helped meditating on the change in industrial 
conditions that had come to pass during that one 



[19] 

man's career. Once the employees were people 
of New England ; now they are — what ? The 
library, which is as much a part of the plant as 
the "ropewalk," contains books in Italian, 
German, French, Portuguese, Polish, and Rus- 
sian. The days have long gone by when the 
intimate relation of master and apprentice can 
characterize industry. Those days cannot be 
restored. Steel machinery has brought into 
existence the organization of human machinery. 
Can that human machinery remain human? 
That is the question which many people looking 
OD the conditions of to-day answer in the nega- 
tive. There at North Plymouth, however, was 
an answer of another kind. The library, the 
woods within the factory grounds, the pleasant 
cottages, the bathing beach, the athletic grounds, 
the great hall, and such a social gathering, are 
something more than the investment that a wise 
dairyman makes in good stables. They are 
symbols of that fellowship in industry which 
can be restored, and, perhaps sooner than we 
think, be made truer and sounder because 
broader and more far-reaching than it ever was 
in the days of the hand worker. The man 
under whose direction and management a com- 



[20] 

pany has been able to seize upon and harness 
this spirit of fellowship in work has served the 
world well. His fifty years of service are as 
worthy of celebration as the fifty-year service 
of a minister or doctor or judge. Mr. Holmes 
and his colleagues have proved that the manu- 
facturer or merchant, as well as the minister or 
doctor or judge, can magnify his office. 



AFTER-DINNER PROGRAM 



ORDER OF EXERCISES 

2 p.M Dinner and Addresses 

4.30 to 6 P.M. . . . Inspection of Plant 

7 to 11 P.M Recepiion, Music and Dancing 



AFTER-DINNER PROGRAM 

MR. AUGUSTUS P. LORING 

PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY, PRESIDING 

Song, "America" By the whole Assembly 

My country, 't is of thee. 
Sweet land of liberty. 

Of thee I sing; 
Land where my fathers died. 
Land of the Pilgrim's pride. 
From every mountain-side 

Let freedom ring. 

Let music swell the breeze, 
And ring from all the trees 

Sweet freedom's song; 
Let mortal tongues awake. 
Let all that breathe partake. 
Let rocks their silence break. 

The sound prolong. 

Our fathers' God, to Tliee, 

Author of liberty. 

To thee we sing. 

Long may our land be bright 

With freedom's holy light; 

Protect us by Thy miglit. 

Great God, our King! 

Samuel F. Smith 



[24] 
A<Mn'.H,s Tiiio Hon. CIkorcjk fl. Crockeii 

Prcsontalion lo Mr. IIolnu's In Ucluilf ol' 

I he I'mployccs Mu. IllciIAllD McLean 

PiTsciiljilioM lo Mr. llolines in l)clijilf of 

the Slookholdcrs Mu. William T^. Putnam 

Acccptuiu'c By Mu. Holmes 

Addresses 

Mu. K. J. LiNDHAY, of Milwiiukce 

Mu. 'V. S. IIoiujs, of 'I'oronlo 

'J'ino Hon. W. M. (Ikuman, MP., of Wclland, Canada 

IXkw VV. VV. Dounan. of Plyinoulh 

Ori<j;inal Poem, "A Fifly-Slrand Lay," 

lly 1*'. I). Vku Planck Read by the Author 

Ori{j;inal Potin. "Lines." by W. K. Heath 

Head by Mu. Cuocker 

Song, "Auld Lnntj; Syne" By the whole Assembly 

iShotilil auld acquaint a ucc hr Jonjot, 

And ncrtr hromjlit ti> inin'y 
SliDuld auld aciiuaiidancc be forijol. 

And dai/a <»' laiKj .v////<'.^ 

For auld hvuj mine, mtj dear. 

For auld Uvkj .fj/nc. 
We 7/ taJy a cup o' kindness yd 

For auld lauij si/nc. 



[25] 

And here 's a hand, my trusty frien , 

And gie 's a hand o' thine, 
We 'II talc' a cup o' kindness yet 

For auld lang syne. 

For auld lang syne, my dear. 

For auld lang syne. 
We HI talc' a cup o' Jcindness yet 

For auld lang syne. 

RoBEBT Bxnma 



ADDRESS OF 
THE HON. GEORGE G. CROCKER 



Mil. AiKJiisTUS p. TiOuiNn, President of the Company and Chairman 
of the Ce/chrtUion, introdiuittg the J Jon. iSeorgc G. Crocker, 
said : 

Jjudies and Cwidlcmen : 

This celehraiion, as you all know, is to eommnnoralc Jijly years 
of faithful service. 

The stockholders of the Plymouth Cordoirc Company are here 
to congrittulatc Mr. Ilohnes, not only because he has managed 
their a/fairs well, but also because he has always carried their 
standard high. 

He who serve the Company are here because wc appreciate 
that under his leadership that service has always been digpii/ied and 
pleasant. 

All you gentlemen trho hare cojne from every part of the United 
Stales and ( 'aiiada are here to show your high regard/or him as a 
merchnul and a man. And we are all here because we love him. 
{^Applause. ^ 

The stockholders desired that Mr. Holmes should not be the 
only per.son who should have a lasting mctnoi'ial of this day, 
and the directors have therefore had one prepared which we now 
propose to show you. Two of the present directors, Mr. Bartlett 
and Mr. ( ^rocker, were rnevdwrs of the board which selected Mr. 
Ilohnes as mantiger in JSSi'. Mr. Ihtrllett is detained at the sick 
bed of a daughter — our sympathy is with him — but oir senior 
director is with us, looking not much older in years, but perhaps 
older in wisdom, though he was wise enough twenty-seven years 
ago to pick out Mr. Holmes. He himself has not yet completed his 
Ji fly years of invaluable service and devotion to the Company, but 
he is getting there. 

I present to you one whom we all delight to honor — the Hon. 
Ccorire (». Ctvcker, 



ADDRESS OF 
THE HON. GEORGE G. CROCKER 

THE happy occasion for our meeting to-day 
is most unusual. We arc glad that we 
are here to honor Mr. Holmes, and he 
is glad that he is here. We are glad that he is 
glad, and he is glad that we are glad. 

Mr. Holmes started at what is generally 
knovv'n as the foot of the ladder. Perhaps an 
equally good simile would be the foot of a steep 
cliff on which there are occasional ledges or 
shelves or plateaux. 

The cliff is very forbidding to the people 
standing at its foot and gazing up at its steep 
and difficult sides. Many are discouraged by 
the very aspect of it and look around to find 
somebody to give them a boost. Woe unto 
them if, having been boosted up to a halting 
place, they come to the conclusion that for 
them this is the only way to success. They may 
get another boost, or even two, but sooner or 
later, if they rely upon being boosted, they will 
lose their footing and slip back down towards 



[30] 

the bottom. There are others who get up a 
little way by dragging down those who have 
already made some progress, and these too are 
sure, sooner or later, to meet with disaster. The 
boy Gideon was not boosted nor did he pull 
himself up by dragging others down. He as- 
saulted the cliff with determination and perse- 
verance. The experience which he had in 
reaching his first promotion or halting place was 
valuable to him in enabling him to reach the 
second, and so he has gone on steadily until he 
is at the very top in his chosen work. 

In the sketch of his life which we have before 
us to-day it appears that his first duty for the 
Company, fifty years ago, was to sweep out the 
office. Now nothing is said as to how he per- 
formed that simple job, and yet we all know 
very definitely just what he did and did not do. 
He did not sweep the dust under the table or 
under the desk or into the corners, but he swept 
that office thoroughly, perhaps as it had never 
been swept before. At any rate he swept it so 
well as to attract the attention and induce the 
favorable comment of his employers, making 
them willing to test him on more important 
work. In the popular operetta of '*The Lass 




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[31] 

who Loved a Sailor," commonly known as 
"Pinafore," Sir Joseph Porter, K. C. B., tells 
the story of his life. This is the description of 
his first employment in a lawyer's office: 

**I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor 
and I polished up the handle of the big front 
door, — I polished up the handle so carefully 
that now I am the ruler of the Queen's Navy." 
So we may say of Mr. Holmes that he swept the 
office so carefully that now he is the head of our 
great company. 

Merit alone has been the cause of his success. 
We have just sung "America." One of the 
principal reasons why our country is dear to us 
and why we rejoice in singing its praises is that 
in these United States there is no passport to 
the highest office in private or in public life so 
potent as merit. 

A few weeks ago the people of the whole coun- 
try on the one hundredth anniversary of the 
birth of Abraham Lincoln paid to his memory 
a most impressive tribute. He too started at 
the foot of the cliff. By merit alone he rose to 
be our President. That in this country there is 
no barrier which merit cannot pass is well ex- 
pressed in the Constitution of this State. I 



[32] 

think it is in the sixth article of part first of the 
Constitution in which practically these words 
are used : Public oflSce is not hereditary nor 
transmissible to children or descendants or 
relatives by blood, and to state that a man is 
born a magistrate or a law-giver or a judge is 
both absurd and unnatural. 

We are not here to celebrate any great single 
work of Mr. Holmes, but we are here to express 
our appreciation of the grand total of the good 
work of each day of all the months in all the 
fifty years of his service. That employees and 
stockholders alike join heartily and enthusiasti- 
cally in this expression there has already been 
the best of evidence, and I venture to prophesy 
that still more conclusive proof will be given 
before this festival is ended. 

It is reported to me that Mrs. Holmes, a short 
time ago, in telling of the first days of their 
married life, said that she well remembered how 
pale and handsome he was, as with a smile on 
his face he looked up at her from a hole which 
he was digging to serve as a cesspool. That 
recollection of hers has a sweet pathos in it and 
is an eloquent testimonial to the man. What- 
ever he has done he has so done that the man 



[33] 

has dignified the work. As Mrs. Holmes in 
their early married life saw beauty in his face 
when he was at work digging that hole, and as 
she may well be justified in thinking him hand- 
some still, so the directors to-day see in his face 
the expression of his life, and they have em- 
ployed the well-known artist, Mr. I. M. Gaug- 
engigl, to paint his portrait to be hung in the 
office of the Company, that the beneficent in- 
fluence of his face may be exerted there when 
he is absent as well as when he is present. It 
is my privilege now to unveil this portrait. 
{Long continued applause followed the unveil- 
ing of the portrait.) 

As we all know, Mr. Holmes is still a young 
man. He is a younger man even than I am — 
just six days younger. You see how much 
younger he looks. That goes to prove that his 
life, with and for the Company, has agreed with 
him remarkably well. The fact that he is still 
young is one of the causes of our happiness to- 
day. It means a continuance of the good 
things of the past, and so we all, stockholders 
and employees alike, not only congratulate him 
to-day, but also congratulate ourselves. We 
rejoice and are exceedingly glad that we are 



[34] 

justified in the expectation that we shall be 
blessed for a long time with that unfailing 
and wise devotion to our interests which has 
endeared him to us, and which for these many 
years has been a controlling influence in 
promoting the prosperity of our Company. 
(Applause.) 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. RICHARD McLEAN 



President Loring said: 

There are still eight men on the pay rolls of tlie Company who 
were working for the Company when Mr. Holmes first went to 
work in the office fifty years ago. One of these was his first "boss," 
and two of these are still working for the Company. Besides being 
contemporaries of Mr. Holmes, they have also been his friends; 
and it was most fitting that they should be intrusted by the opera- 
tives with the present which all the operatives of the Company 
have joined in getting for Mr. Holmes. I have the pleasure of in- 
troducing Mr. Richard McLean. (Applause.) 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. RICHARD McLEAN 

Mb. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

IT gives me very great pleasure to be here 
to-day to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary 
of the business connection of our worthy 
treasurer. 

Having known him all these years, and hav- 
ing been in daily touch with him in business of 
this Plymouth Cordage Company for twenty- 
one years of his management, in all this long 
period our intercourse was always pleasant and 
courteous. 

So it is a great pleasure for me, in behalf of 
the older men who have grown gray vnth him 
in the service, and also in behalf of all the em- 
ployees of the Plymouth Cordage Company, to 
present to him this loving cup. 

It may appear to be empty, but it is not; if 
you can see what is within its brim you see that 
it is full and running over with esteem and best 
wishes of every one of these employees. (Turn- 
ing to Mr. Holmes.) Sir, in behalf of these 



[38] 

employees I present to you this loving cup. 
Also let me add: the committee which I repre- 
sent thought you ought to have a cane in addi- 
tion to the cup, which I now present to you. As 
you lean upon this cane I want you, sir, to re- 
member that you can always lean upon your 
old friends for any support that they can give 
you. (Applause.) 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM 



President Lorinq said: 

The stocklioldcrs of the Company did not wish this day to pass 
without bestowing on Mr. Holmes a substantial gift to mark their 
appreciation of his character and ability. 

They have appointed a committee to carry out their ivishcs, and 
have chosen a chairman who has some timely words to speak an 
this occasimi. I introduce the man of the hour, William Lowell 
Putnam. 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

IT is a great honor to have been deputed to 
present on behalf of the stockholders their 
gift to Mr. Holmes on this joyful anni- 
versary. It has been a great privilege to share 
in the arrangements for giving their enthusiasm 
some chance to show itself in action. As one of 
them writes in sending his contribution: **It 
is a pleasure to have any part in a testimonial 
so well deserved.'* 

A friend of mine starting on a journey in 
foreign countries conceived the happy idea of 
having a card printed for use in shopping, 
bearing on its face in many languages the ques- 
tion, "What does it cost.^" After receiving his 
answer he turned to the happily expectant 
shopkeeper the reverse side, which bore the 
painful legend, "I will give you half." For us, 
however, there was no such sad experience; 
the cards we receive read: "I will give you 
double." One stockholder, referring to his 



[42] 

contribution, writes: "The amount is so in- 
significant, it seems to me, for such a worthy 
cause, that I wish it might have been an auto- 
mobile instead of a watch." And that was the 
feeHng of all. All were glad to join in giving^ 
and all would gladly have given more. 

You remember the old conundrum: "Wlio 
was the smallest man mentioned in the Bible?" 
And the answer: "Peter, because he slept on 
his watch." Alas ! this modern time-piece is 
too small a thing to serve so excellent a purpose, 
but it does not matter for we all know that Mr. 
Holmes never does go to sleep on his watch. 

Small as it is, it carries a mountain of regard 
and gratitude and honor from our six hundred 
and sixty stockholders. 

We hope that it will prove a timely gift and 
wish that the perpetual calendar on its face may 
record for Mr. Holmes another useful and pros- 
perous fifty years. (Applause.) 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. GIDEON FRANCIS HOLMES 



President Lorinq said : 

We can turn out good rope at Plymoidh or Wetland; rope which 
you can trust to hold you to your anchor in the fiercest storm; rope 
that you can suring yourself over a precipice with and know that 
it will not break. But only the boy, with tlie help of God, can turn 
out the man that you can trust. 

We can, and do, give the boy the chance, but he must do the reM. 
There was a boy born around here wlw turned out such a man. 
I introduce a man you can trust, the Jiero of the day, Gideon 
Francis Holmes. 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. GIDEON FRANCIS HOLMES 

Mk. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

YOUR expressions of personal friendship 
and affection have touched me greatly 
and of which I am not lacking in ap- 
preciation. Many of you have come from a 
long distance; busy men, holding responsible 
positions ; yet you find time to come here, at no 
little personal inconvenience, to help me cele- 
brate. Hard would be the heart that was not 
deeply touched by such evidence of friendship. 

During the past few years many of my friends 
have asked me what I proposed to do on my 
Fiftieth Anniversary, but, as usual, they have 
helped me out and answered the question them- 
selves. Their kindness and affection are most 
beautifully expressed in this Loving Cup, Cane, 
Watch, and (Glass Pitcher from Welland). 
Not only the gifts themselves, but the kind 
thoughts which prompted the employees, direc- 
tors, and stockholders will always remain in 
my heart as fond memories of this celebration. 



[46] 

I doubt if there are many at the present time 
who fully realize the changes that have taken 
place in this vicinity during the past fifty years. 
Going back to the commencement of my ser- 
vices with the Plymouth Cordage Company, 
there were only twenty-seven houses and two 
stores between the house where I now live and 
the Kingston line, which is a distance of about 
one mile and one eighth. There were no side 
streets, but there was a lane leading to one or 
two houses located at the foot of what is now 
Castle Street, also a lane leading to two houses 
owned by the Company, which were located at 
the end of what is now called Bourne Street. 
The house on the hill was called the Wood 
Block, and in getting to it we had to pass a 
dense swamp on the one side and a heavy strip 
of wood on the other. These buildings, located 
on lanes, are included in the above number. 

At the present time, between my house and 
the Kingston line, including side streets, there 
are three hundred and twenty-three houses, 
nearly thirty stables, two churches and a large 
chapel, thirty- three stores, a library, and a 
dining hall. 

There were no sidewalks in this part of the 




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[47] 

town, but on one side of the road, usually on 
the easterly side, there was a foot-path. When 
the weather was rough we had to take to the 
roads, which were none too good in those days, 
and very poor as compared with the present 
time. If any of us wanted to go into the village 
there was no waiting around on the corners or 
looking for the white posts to take an electric 
car, for there was none. There were no public 
conveyances of any kind, and it was either walk, 
asli a ride of some neighbor, or stay at home. In 
those times, however, it was not considered a 
hardship to have to walk two or more miles ; in 
fact, even after the telegraph was introduced, 
and before a branch was put into our office, 
messages were brought to us by a man, living 
in the village, we having an arrangement with 
him to deliver them at a cost of fifty cents 
per trip, and he usually walked both out 
and in. 

In the manufacturing part, all of the small 
work, such as Spunyarn, small Wormline, Ham- 
broline, etc., was made by hand. Four spinning 
wheels were regularly in commission, and every 
now and then a fifth one was started up. These 
have all been laid aside and are something of 



[48] 

the past. The slow speed, open flyer spinning- 
jennies are also of the past and in their place we 
now have the fast speed closed flyer. Lappers 
were discarded years ago and in their place we 
have spreaders. It was only a little more than 
fifty years ago that inventors were trying to 
bring out machines for making rope, particu- 
larly in the small sizes, and when I first came 
here to work there were only seven machines. 
Great changes and improvements have been 
made on the first machines that were produced, 
and for several years it has not been actually 
necessary to have the ropewalk in order to pro- 
duce rope of large sizes and long lengths. 

If Longfellow had been born seventy-five 
years later I fancy we would never have had 
that beautiful poem entitled, "The Ropewalk," 
and I think that some of the little boys, in most 
instances not over ten years of age, who used to 
turn the spinning wheels and were obliged to be 
at their places and commence work at five 
o'clock in the morning, would feel inclined to 
change the next to the last line of the last verse 
of Longfellow's poem, and have it read : 

" With a drowsy, dreamy feeling. 
And the spinners backivard go." 



[49] 

But, happily, all these conditions have been 
changed and now our mill starts at seven o'clock 
instead of five in the morning, and most of the 
monotonous, humdrum work of fifty years ago, 
such as turning the wheel, tending the lapper, 
following small rope on the grounds, etc., are 
things of the past. 

It has always been a matter of great satis- 
faction to me that I could depend on the hearty 
co-operation of the employees of our Company. 
They have always shown a spirit of determin- 
ation to excel in everything they undertake. 
If music is wanted they furnish a band that 
will give you music better than most bands and 
which will compare favorably with the best. 
You have an illustration of this here to-day; 
and I want to say that I appreciate having our 
own band furnish music for this occasion. 

The Field Day Sports and tent exhibitions of 
the employees are always exceedingly interest- 
ing and draw a large crowd of people from the 
surrounding towns; and it is this same spirit of 
co-operation and determination to excel that 
has enabled the Plymouth Cordage Company to 
put goods on the market, of the best quality that 
can be produced. They are well known over 



[50] 

the entire United States and Canada, and it is 
not an uncommon thing to get letters from for- 
eign lands speaking in the most complimentary 
way of the quality of goods we turn out. We 
have recently had an illustration of this point. 
One of our friends within a few days sent us a 
letter in which the following extract appeared: 

"Not having had any orders for some time 
from our good friends in Holland, for whom you 
have repeatedly made large hawsers, we wrote 
them recently and to-day are in receipt of their 
letter, which is so interesting that we quote from 
it as follows: 

***It is quite true that we have not had the 
pleasure of addressing you for some time. This, 
however, is not due to a lack of appreciation of 
the good quality of your ropes, but is a result of 
the strength and durability of the material they 
are made of, as we are able to do with same so 
much longer as with ropes we used formerly. 
All our tugs are well stocked with hawsers, but 
no doubt we will want some more ropes when 
the year advances. We won't fail to let you 
know about our requirements.'" 

And whether it be rope, twine, or any other 
goods made by our Company, the system and 



[51] 

organization are such that the trade has re- 
ceived in the past, and will continue to receive 
in the future, the very best that can be pro- 
duced. The word "Plymouth" stands for 
quaUty, and is known the world over. The 
system and organization were never in more 
perfect working order than at the present time. 
My faith and confidence in the organization 
warrants me in saying that the word "Ply- 
mouth" will, in the future, as it has in the past, 
stand for the best that can be produced. To me 
the future of our Company is bright and 
hopeful. 

There have been many times, during the 
fifty years, when the outlook has seemed dis- 
couraging and the future dark and gloomy, but 
I have had such hearty support, on the part of 
the directors, and splendid backing by the em- 
ployees, that obstacles have been surmounted 
and the outcome quite satisfactory; and as I 
review the past, I can say I have spent fifty 
very pleasant and happy years. (Applause.) 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. B. PRESTON CLARK 



President Loring said : 

We believe that a Company like ours is a valuable asset to the 
Commonwealth, and a mxin like Mr. Holmes, a jewel in her 
crown. 

We are not a predatory corporation; we ask and take no illegal 
rebates; and we keep out of court. We mean to give every man 
his due. We are decent people — at least we think so — and so 
we were not afraid to ask a judge of our highest court, the Hon. 
William Caleb Loring, to speak here to-day. Unfortunately he 
cannot; but in his place I shall call one who was for tiventy years 
a competitor of Mr. Holmes, and nevertheless a warm, friend and 
now a director of this Company, one wJw is noted for his philan- 
thropy and who is a judge of men — Mr. B. Preston Clark. 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. B. PRESTON CLARK 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

MY only claim to speak here to-day is 
that I am perhaps the only man pres- 
ent who, as manager of the Pearson 
Cordage Company, and later of the McCormick 
mills, was a keen competitor of the Plymouth 
Cordage Company for nearly twenty years. 

A cannibal was once asked whether he knew 
a certain missionary, to which he replied, '*Yes, 
I knew him intimately, I ate a piece of him." 
In the present case the result has been quite 
otherwise. I cannot truly say of the Plymouth 
Cordage Company what the cannibal did of the 
missionary, but am quite persuaded that the 
missionary has devoured me entirely. 

As far as one in that unusual position can say 
anything, I should like to speak briefly of the 
Plymouth Cordage Company from without and 
within. 

As a competitor they hit hard, but always 
above the belt. The greatest volume of trade 



[56] 

consistent with perfect integrity was the meas- 
ure of the keenness of their competition. But 
only as it has been my privilege to come to know 
this Company from within have I at all realized 
what it actually is. It is not often that the 
chance comes to me to have a joke at Mr. 
Holmes' expense, but I have to-day, and he has 
given it to me. He has spoken of our organiza- 
tion; of its loyalty, its ability, and its perma- 
nent character, and all that he says of it is true. 
But in his desire, ever modestly, to keep in the 
background he has unconsciously paid himself 
a higher tribute than any of which I could have 
thought. 

The soul of the Plymouth Cordage Company 
is in this mill to-day. For it is the men and 
women whose united work is spelling success 
that are its life. It is an organism, instinct with 
vitality and loyalty. 

As is known to us all, the trend of American 
business for the last quarter of a century has 
been toward great enterprises, huge machines; 
and the men who have come to the front have 
been those who could build and guide such 
machines. To-day the wise business men are 
searching for those who have, with this con- 




SCENES AT THE BANQUET 



[57] 

structive ability, the capacity to make those 
great machines alive, and who shall, through 
their personality and capacity for leadership, 
inspire that personal loyalty which is one of our 
finest human quahties. And this Mr. Holmes 
has done. As his ancestors came to this new, 
untried country, he has in his turn been a true 
pioneer. He has created not simply a machine, 
but a live thing, with the permanent power 
within itself of growth and development. It is 
from a fairly wide knowledge of most of the 
concerns in this country in our line of business 
that I can safely say that no one of them com- 
pares with the Plymouth Cordage Company in 
this respect. In Ihe character and ability of 
those who manufacture our product, who dis- 
tribute our goods, who furnish our raw materials, 
and who are the owners of our stock, as well as 
in that of our President and Directors who 
represent those stockholders, there is a spirit of 
team work, and a hard driving force that is carry- 
ing us to the front all along the line, and is 
bound to increase with every coming year. 

It is a fact that each and every one of us here 
to-day is proud and glad to be a part of this 
organization. And we shall go away from here 



[58] 

with the purpose to continue this celebration in 
honor of Mr. Holmes along the lines which he 
himself has suggested, by doing our part and a 
little more to strengthen the organization and 
maintain its high reputation. 

But besides our assured and increasing com- 
mercial success, there is yet another and a 
broader value in this great Company. It stands 
for honesty and ability. Mr. Holmes and all 
those associated with him in his company stand 
like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land 
in this age when great commercial success is not 
always joined with great commercial honesty. 

The standards of this Company help to show 
the high water mark, bar none, of the commer- 
cial life of to-day, and as such it does a service 
to the public and this Commonwealth which is 
incalculable. 

The coming generation of young men, eager 
and alert, are ever entering the threshold of the 
great world of commerce. At first, life looks 
simple. But soon comes to each and every one 
of them the question. What standards shall I 
adopt in my business life ? Can I be both hon- 
est and successful, or must it be a choice between 
the two.? And to that question, so vital in its 



[59] 

bearing on this American life of ours, men like 
Mr. Holmes, men such as those who make up 
our woHdng force — in a word a concern like 
ours — give, and shall give for many a day, the 
answer in no uncertain tones. (Applause.) 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. EDMOND J. LINDSAY 



President Lorinq said: 

Some of you may Icnow, and some of you may not know, that 
Mr. Bourne Spooner, prior to the foundation of the Plymouth Cord- 
age Company, was engaged at Ne^o Orleans in the manufacture 
of rope by slave labor. One of his ideas in founding the works at 
Plymouth was to show that rope made by free labor was better and 
could compete successfully with that made by slaves. 

To-day we are confronted by the same problem. In many of 
the western States prison plants liave been erected to make binder 
twine. This is not done to give the necessary employment to the 
prisoners, but for a commercial venture, as is shown by their run- 
ning tlieir machinery at nigJit to gel out a big produd,. So Mr. 
Holmes lias the same problem to fight that Mr. Spooner had. But 
Mr. Holmes has an able, honest, and capable lieutenant in the 
field, not only a wise counsellor and aid, but also a warm admirer 
and a personal friend., whom it Li now my pleasure to introduce — 
Mr. Edmond J. Lindsay of Milwaukee. 



ADDRESS OF 
MR. EDMOND J. LINDSAY 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

I COUNT it a privilege to participate in 
this anniversary celebration. With the 
official invitation to be present, there was 
included a request to "make a short address 
upon my relations with Mr. Holmes, or such 
other matter bearing upon the celebration as 
might seem to me appropriate." But coupled 
with this was a time limit, which in view of the 
duration of my relations with Mr. Holmes, may 
prove embarrassing. When, however, I thought 
of the number present who have had relations 
v^dth him, of which it would be a pleasure to 
speak, and who would have no opportunity, I 
realized the favor shown me in allotment of any 
time for such expression. There is a legend or 
tradition concerning the first visit of Mr. Holmes 
to Milwaukee, for which I suspect he is in some 
measure responsible. The story is, that he 
found himself on a cold, raw, wintry day landed 
at a small wooden railway station without com- 



[64] 

fort or conveniences but indicating the Mil- 
waukee terminal of the road. Upon inquiring 
for a sleigh or carriage, he was directed to a 
forlorn individual in command of a raw boned 
animal attached to a pung, on which was a 
rough box, a board across for a seat, which was 
draped with a well-seasoned buffalo robe, minus 
the fur. With this escort he found his cus- 
tomer, transacted his business, and was again 
safely returned to the station, where another 
dilemma confronted him. The five-dollar bill 
handed to the driver was a "stunner." He had 
never handled a piece of money of such value, 
and it was a question whether it could be 
changed. This, however, was duly accom- 
plished after many of the business places of the 
city had been visited. Now this is supposed by 
him to be a fair illustration of existing conditions 
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when he first knew 
the city. I speak of this to show that our friend 
who stands for all that is true, straightforward 
and level-headed can, when occasion demands, 
give rein to his imagination. 

Long and intimate acquaintance with Ply- 
mouth Cordage, when the imagination is not 
held in check, seems to lead to strange exagger- 




TAKEN AT THE BANQUET 
WAITRESSES — CORDAGE BAND - WAITERS 



[65] 

ation, as further shown by letter received this 
week from a Wisconsin customer who wrote: 

"I have been selling Plymouth twine for the 
last five years exclusively and my predecessors 
for thirty-five years ; making an unbroken record 
of Plymouth twine sales in Waterloo for forty 
years. My customers often state that they have 
threaded their binders at the beginning of 
harvest with Plymouth Diamond L twine, and 
have unthreaded at close of harvest without 
break, or one minute's trouble with twine during 
the whole harvest." 

Possibly Mr. Holmes on that first visit may 
have, through the predecessor of the writer from 
whom I have quoted, then and there arranged 
for the introduction of Plymouth Diamond L 
binder twine into Wisconsin, and the binder 
needles have been threaded with it ever since. 
A poet, whom all the world loves, says: '*Oh, 
that some one the gift would give us to see our- 
selves as others see us." (This is not given in 
the original vernacular.) This desire may 
some time have been in the heart of our friend, 
and if so, may not this be a fitting time to grant 
such wish? If so, I will gladly contribute my 
quota, and in doing so, comply with the condi- 



[e6] 

tion attached to my invitation, and speak of 
Mr. Holmes as I have known him — a man of 
sterling integrity, of rare sagacity and shrewd- 
ness in business, but whose keen perception is 
always tempered with regard for the rights of 
others. It is not because ''honesty is the best 
policy,'* that inflexible integrity dominates his 
business intercourse with his fellows. This 
characteristic, with him, is blended with a 
friendship that has its root in the golden rule: 
"Whatsoever ye would that men should do 
unto you, do ye even so unto them." His suc- 
cessful management of his great company has 
been phenomenal, and cannot be accounted for 
by shrewdness and sagacity alone, but by a 
combination of these qualities with the others 
named. He has faced perplexities and diflfi- 
culties never encountered by his predecessors, 
and before which other strong men, contem- 
porary with himself in the same business and 
with equal opportunities, have succumbed and 
made shipwreck, while he has carried his com- 
pany steadily forward from year to year with 
increasing success and prestige. I know I 
speak for hundreds here to-day when I say, no 
employer has ever had more enthusiastic loy- 



[67] 

alty and faithful co-operation than is found in 
the ranks of those who are now associated with 
him in the Plymouth Cordage Works, and the 
same can be said of those who, from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, and the Gulf to the snowclad 
mountains of the north, are the representatives 
of this great Company. Plymouth products are 
now everywhere recognized as the highest type 
of excellence in the cordage industry, and it is 
also recognized that the man who, more than 
any other one man, has accomplished this, is 
Gideon F. Holmes. 

I would like to speak of other personal traits 
as we know him, but must forbear. How well 
some of us remember business adjustments that 
have been made, and differences bridged by his 
quiet considerateness made irresistible when 
accompanied by the twinkle of the kindly eyes 
of our friend. Controversy has ceased and 
friendship has been cemented. Added to all 
this, he is a philanthropist, not the sentimental 
kind that makes a trade of philanthropy, but 
the broad-minded, tolerant, patient observer of 
men, who knows the frailties of human nature, 
and is ready always and everywhere to make all 
allowances for them. In his own personality he 



[68] 

is cheerfully welcome wherever he goes. There 
is inspiration and helpfulness in his friendship. 
He lives in Ihe love and conhdeuce of many, and 
he will be remembered with grateful and abid- 
ing alfeclioii. (Applause.) 



ADDRESS OF 
MAJOR THOMAS S. HOBBS 



I'uEsiDENT LoniNO said : 

From Mr. Holmes in tlw ofjice to the youngest boy who tends a 
balldng m^ichine in the mills we mean to he fair, and we mean to 
be Jumcst. I know that self-praise goes but Utile ways, but I also 
know that a good name, like a rose, carries its fragrance with it 
w/ierever it goes. 

TJiere arc men who have carried the name of tfie Plymouth 
Cordage Company west across the plains of Assiniboia and Sas- 
katcliewan, and north to Hudson's Bay. One of tlicse is with us 
to-day. I mean. Major T/unnas 8. llobbs of London, Ontario. 



ADDRESS OF 
MAJOR THOMAS S. HOBBS 

Mil. I'resident, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

IT affords me much pleasure to be with you 
this day. When we first heard of this in- 
tended celebration we were not sure of 
being counted in. In fact we were something 
like the school marm who asked a class of small 
boys the question, "Who was the first man.?" 
A little nipper at the foot of the class held up 
his hand. The teacher said, "Who was it, 
Willie?" "George Washington," said Master 
Willie. "Oh, no!" was the reply, "did you 
never hear of Adam?" "Oh," said the lad, 
**I did n't know foreigners counted." 

Mr. Crocker, one of your directors, kindly 
called on me to say a few words to-day. When 
Joseph Choate was your Ambassador to the 
Court of St. James the leading members of the 
Bar in London thought to pay him the honor 
of calling him to the Bar of The Inner Temple. 
Mr. Choate, in accepting it, said he would tell 



[72] 

thorn the story of an Irish Baronet, who, having 
become somewhat reduced in circumstances, 
sent his only son, Michael, to London to take 
u|) I he })rofession of law so as to redeem the 
family fortunes. Michael studied hard, passed 
his '* exams" and was finally called to the Bar. 
The Irish peasantry near the old home heard 
that Michael was doing well in London and they 
thought it would be the proper thing to call on 
the old gentleman and tender their congratula- 
tions coupled with wishes for the dear old man's 
long life in their midst. Having proceeded in a 
body to the Hall the old Baronet thanked them 
for Michael and himself and confidentially told 
them that Michael had recently been called to 
the Bar. One Irishman said to another who 
was standing in the crowd, "Pat, what thedivil 
is that anyway?" He replied, "Hist, Mike, I 
don't know, but if it 's what I think it is, they 'U 
only have to call Michael wanst." 

Mr. President, I 'm proud to be called on to 
say a few words in a{)preciation of Mr. Holmes* 
service in connection with the Plymouth Cord- 
age Company. Victor Hugo says, "The head 
that does not turn toward the horizon of the 
past contains neither thought nor love." We 



[73] 

believe this and to-day wc hold half a century 
in retrospect. 

In this age of keen competition and s[)e('ial- 
ization it is a good man who can do one thing 
well. Mr. Holmes has done that one thinir with 
a marvellous degree of success. Tlis career 
proves the truth of the saying that "Genius 
consists in getting on to your job." Mr. Holmes 
not only got on to the job, but stayed on through 
the perplexities and changes of the past lifty 
years. 

One great reason of Mr. Holmes' success has 
been his steadfastness of pur{)ose and his ster- 
ling integrity in all business nuilters. 

Some one has said that the reason j)eople suc- 
ceed in this world who mind their business is 
because they have so little competition. Mr. 
Holmes has never troubled about the business 
of others, but others have been greatly troubled 
about Mr. Holmes' business, but from first to 
last have been unable to express one word of 
adverse criticism. 

Two or three years ago we invited the Ply- 
mouth Cordage Company to come over into the 
Promised Land; we were able to say as Moses 
said to Aaron, "Come with us and we will do 



[74] 

thee good ; for the Lord hath spoken good con- 
cerning Israel." The Plymouth Cordage plant 
is now one of the features in that part of the 
country, and when, Mr. President, in the year 
1924 your Company may commemorate its 
one hundredth anniversary, we are in hope that 
the Welland end of your mammoth business 
will warrant your directors in celebrating the 
event on the banks of the Niagara River in 
which vicinity your fine Canadian plant is 
located; and we further trust that Mr. Gideon 
F. Holmes will as now be at the helm in the 
affairs of this most important and successful 
enterprise. 

Sometime ago a New Brunswicker went into 
the Halifax Hotel, in Halifax, and, after sizing 
up the audience in the refreshment room, 
stated that he could lick any man in the room. 
Meeting with no response he was still more 
encouraged and boldly stated that he could lick 
any man in the city of Halifax. Not being taken 
up even on this wholesale challenge he went still 
further and claimed he could lick any man in 
the whole blooming Province of Nova Scotia. 
An old timer from Antigonish walked over and 
landed him a couple which put him out of busi- 




o 
o 
Pi 

o 
5 

W 

o 

'A 

5 
o 



w 
w 

o 
1-1 

W 



[76] 

ness for a few minutes. As he was being helped 
up some one incjuired what the trouhh', was, and 
the New Brunswicker replied that he covered 
too darn much territory. Not so the Plymouth 
Cordage ('ompany, for wliile they have covered 
the territory the other chaj)s, who do the boast- 
ing, get the knockout blow. 

When we think of the Plymouth ('ordagc 
Company fifty years ago, and then consider the 
splendid ])osition that it occupies to-day in the 
industrial world, it recalls those lines of Lord 
Tennyson's : 

" Yet I doubt not through the ages 
One increanng purjx>se runs. 
And the minds of men are broadened 
With the process of the Suns." 

Throughout Canada Plymouth twines have 
a status cHjualled by none. It recalls the ex- 
perience of the Englishman who struck a (coun- 
try tavern in the Canadian nortliwest where the 
good wife did the cooking and the "Boss" 
waited on table. The "Boss" asked the Eng- 
lishman if he would take **Soup." He replied, 
**Beg your pardon." "Do you want any souj)?" 
inquired the landlord. "What kind of soup?" 



[76] 

was the reply. *'Darn good soup," said the 
landlord with emphasis on the "Darn." So 
with Plymouth twine. When a man says, 
**What kind of twine.?" ''Plymouth twine," 
is all need be said. 

Mr. Holmes has evinced a marvellous appe- 
tite for business, an appetite that reminds one of 
the cowboy who had to make a long trip across 
country and called at a settler's house for 
dinner. Approaching the table the hungry man 
seized knife and fork and was setting to, when 
the host said, ''Excuse me, we always say 
Grace." "Oh, all right, boss," replied the 
hungry man, "nothing you can say will affect 
my appetite." So with you, Mr. Holmes, no 
matter what is said, nothing affects your appe- 
tite for trade. 

When we consider the growth and the brilliant 
success of this Company and that its position 
to-day is largely due to Mr. Gideon F. Holmes, 
we can most appropriately apply that beautiful 
phrase of Sir Walter Scott's: "To accomplish 
such results is worth having lived for." 

Good things will go when captained by live 
men with character and personal force. 

Mr. President, speaking as one of the staff of 



[77] 

the Plymouth Cordage Company, in conclusion, 
let me quote the words of Emerson : 

"He that gives us better homes, better books, 
better tools, a brighter outlook and a wider hope, 
him will we crown with laurel." (Applause.) 



ADDRESS OF THE 
HON. WILLIAM M. GERMAN, M.P. 



ADDRESS OF THE 
HON. WILLIAM M. GERMAN, M.P. 



President Loring said: 

Tlie British flag had only ceased to float at Plyviovih for less 
tJmn thirty years when this Company was founded. Some New 
ETiglandcrs 2vho did not sympathize with the Revolution, hit re- 
mained loyal to their King, left their hoiJies a7id settled in Canada. 
A colony of such, from Connecticut, settled at Wetland, Ontario, 
and founded the town cohere tlie Union Jack floats over the newest 
plant of the Plymouth Cordage Company. 

We have with uji to-day a citizen of Welland, a distinguished 
member of Parliament from Canada, and he ivHl tell us %vhat 
they think of Mr. Holmes in Ontario. I present the Honorable 
William M. German, M.P. 



ADDRESS OF THE 
HON. WILLIAM M. GERMAN, M. P. 

Mr. President, Mr, Houvies, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

TO simply say that I am pleased to be 
present at this banquet to-day in honor 
of the fiftieth anniversary of Mr. Holmes' 
connection with the Plymouth Cordage Com- 
pany is but poorly expressing the feeling of 
pleasure which I have. Outside of my desire 
to join in celebrating this anniversary, I was 
pleased to have an opportunity of visiting this 
beautiful old town of Plymouth, which over 
two hundred years ago saw the dawn of settle- 
ment, expansion, and enterprise in this great 
country. I was also anxious to see the works 
of the Plymouth Cordage Company which have 
been so long established in this place, and I can 
assure you, Mr. President, that they far exceed 
the expectation which I had formed regarding 
them, and the success of this great enterprise is, 
as I am pleased to know, very considerably due 
to the energy, intelligence, and careful foresight 
of your worthy Treasurer. It could hardly be 



[82] 

possible, sir, that your Treasurer, springing 
from the stock that he did, could be other than 
an energetic, determined, and far-seeing man. 
Two hundred and eighty-nine years ago a little 
wind-tossed craft of a few hundred tons' burden, 
freighted with human souls, landed on these 
shores. We, at this day, stand almost appalled 
at the idea of people crossing the great Atlantic 
ocean, leaving the home of their forefathers and 
their childhood, in a ship no larger than the 
little "Mayflower" and seeking out homes in 
this new country, which was then a vast, mighty 
wilderness, and the courage and determination 
which actuated these people has been the cour- 
age and determination which has opened up, 
developed, and made this great country of the 
United States. The fact that your Treasurer, 
Mr. President, is a lineal descendant of these 
hardy pioneers is a guarantee of the stability of 
his character and his far-seeing business ability. 
I have been very pleased indeed, sir, to listen to 
the remarks of my good friend and fellow 
countryman, Mr. Hobbs, and I am inclined to 
think that your Company turns out something 
more real than cordage. I have known Mr. 
Hobbs for some thirty years, sat with him in the 



[83] 

Ontario Legislature for several years, and dur- 
ing all this time I have never known him to 
make a speech such as he has made to-day, and 
I am inclined to think that it really must be by 
reason of his close and intimate business con- 
nection with your Company, and I cannot but 
tliink that his connection with you has devel- 
oped in him the great oratorical powers which 
he has displayed to-day ; and I am also pleased, 
sir, to feel that I am also, though in a small way, 
connected with the interests of your Company, 
and was to some small extent instrumental in 
inducing you to establish your works in Canada. 
It has been said by Honorable Mr. Hobbs that 
when you first went to Welland to view the land 
you had the ladies with you. My only regret is 
that the ladies have not seen fit as yet to repeat 
their visit. Possibly they were frightened by the 
very sticky mud which they encountered at that 
time, but I can assure these ladies that if they 
will come again on my invitation they will find 
a much more congenial climate and pleasant 
going than they encountered when first there. 
We cannot of course, sir, expect that your works 
at Welland will, for some years to come, equal 
the enormous plant which you have here, but I 



[84] 

can assure you that so far as aiding your Cana- 
dian enterprise is concerned you will receive 
every possible concession and assistance from 
our Government as you can in fairness expect, 
and as liberal treatment as the Government can 
give consistent with the general welfare of our 
people, and I can only, sir, express the hope 
that within a few years your works in Canada 
will be sufficiently prosperous to be able to sur- 
round yourselves there with as contented, in- 
telligent, and fine appearing a body of em- 
ployees as I see gathered together in this room 
to-day. I congratulate you, sir, and your Com- 
pany, on the great business success which you 
have achieved, and I sincerely trust that you, 
your Board of Directors, and that you, Mr. 
Holmes, may live to enjoy the fruits of the suc- 
cess which you have created and to which you 
are undoubtedly entitled. (Applause.) 



ADDRESS OF THE 
REVEREND W. W. DORNAN, D.D. 



President Loring said: 

The really important thing for all of its is our Spiritual life and 
tJiose eternal consideralions of right and fudice whicJi regtdate all 
our acts, not only on Sundays, but on every day. 

We have xoith us to-day a man who has given up his life to 
teaching God's word and the tridh as he sees it, and in wJwse 
church Mr. Holmes sit^ as a listener. I introduce to you the Rev- 
erend W. W. Doman of Plymouili. 



ADDRESS OF TIIE 
REVEREND W. W. DORNAN, D.D. 

Mr. Pkesident: 

I APPRECIATE the honor extended to me 
on this occasion by your committee, that I 
have the opportunity of speaking a word 
of appreciation regarding the services and char- 
acteristics of the one whom to-day Plymouth 
deHghts to honor. 

Gentlemen, I rise to speak laboring under one 
or two great disabilities. 

The first came upon me before this most 
excellent dinner was served, and as I thought of 
the splendid achievements of the honored treas- 
urer of this Cordage Company, Mr. Holmes, in 
lifting this plant to take the place in commercial 
importance and value, second to none in the 
North American Continent. And as I looked 
around these tables upon the splendid type of 
employees I wished the opportunity to speak 
was given then. I felt like that scene on the 
deck of a transatlantic steamer where a young 
man standing upon the deck with both hands in 



[88] 

his pockets and careening with the vessel while 
he filled his lungs with the ozone of the great 
deep said, *'When I am at sea, I can't contain 
myself." A fellow passenger leaning over the 
rail, and with a face ashen pale and a sickly ex- 
pression, turned, and looking up, said, "My 
friend, that 's just the way I feel myself." But 
the opportunity to give vent to my feelings had 
not yet come when I was full for utterance. 

The second disability came to me when the 
dinner was concluded, and, like a balloon, 
everything was stretched to its utmost capacity, 
then was I too full for utterance. In this cir- 
cumstance, judging from optical evidence, I am 
not alone. Like the Scotch minister who, com- 
ing home late one night, met one of his parish- 
ioners who was much the worse of drink. Said 
the minister, "James, I am afraid that the 
whiskey has gotten the upper hand to-night." 
James replied rather confidentially, "Never 
mind, minister, just keep quiet and say nothing 
about it, nobody has seen you but me, and I am 
not very sober myself." 

My third disability happened when I listened 
to the goodly flow of oratory and, as the speak- 
ers glowingly and eloquently spoke of the char- 




€''lr»' 




NUMBER 3 MILL 

Gas Producer House — Gas Engines, 1000 H.P. 

Mill During; Construction 



[89] 

acteristics of our friend, Mr. Holmes, I began 
to see my speech go piece by piece, and I won- 
dered what they were going to leave of Mr. 
Holmes for me. Two or three times I concluded 
that all that would be necessary for me to do 
would be to stand over the remains and pro- 
nounce the benediction. I feel like the old 
minister who had exchanged pulpits on a certain 
Sabbath and found that the rats had been in 
the barrel of sacred tradition and chewed some 
pages of his sermon manuscript which he had 
not discovered until in the pulpit. He very 
frankly faced the audience and said, "I do not 
know my text, nor indeed my subject, several 
pages are gone by the rats, so, with your per- 
mission, I will begin where the rats left 
oflf." 

Fifty years of service and yet young is the lot 
that falls but to few men. This is no ordinary 
occasion that brings us together to do honor to 
one who in twenty-three years rose from oflSce 
boy to the manager and propagator of a great 
concern, and who for twenty-seven years has 
proved himself to be a worthy successor in the 
line of the indefatigable far-seeing "Bourne 
Spooner." 



[90] 

Wlien a man rises to a great and noble task, 
all the great and noble characteristics of the 
man appear. Struggle is the true law of evolu- 
tion from the lower to the higher, for too often 
it has been exemplified that starting at the high- 
est there is a descent to nothing. It makes little 
difi'erence, however, how a man comes into the 
world provided he chooses to be a man. 

One of the ways to success in life is to be con- 
tinually fitting oneself for the larger opportunity 
that may come. This Mr. Holmes was always 
doing from the first day he entered the oflSce of 
this Company up to the present hour. He was 
not seeking to do simply what he was paid for, 
but seeking to learn something that would pay 
him better by and by. It was the characteristic 
of industry. The honor that came to Mr. 
Holmes was not in receiving the high office of 
treasurer, but that in receiving it, he has filled 
it to overflowing with a splendid business ca- 
pacity. The man magnifies the office. 

The second characteristic which I have noted 
in our honored friend is the thing that I believe 
has added greatly to his years, — his apprecia- 
tion of the humorous. Whenever an anti- 
climax comes to his notice, either in men or 



[91] 

things, he can enjoy it to the fullest. It is the 
salvation of any man to be able to laugh. 

The third characteristic, and the last I shall 
speak of, is his honesty. No man that knows 
Mr. Holmes can for a moment doubt his honesty 
and business integrity. There is nothing so 
helps the work of the church of Christ in lifting 
men like an honest factory. Honesty in a con- 
cern incorporates itself into the workmen em- 
ployed. In this regard I consider this place by 
its business methods under the present manage- 
ment an asset to righteousness. At one time a 
rope was manufactured for a customer. It was 
to be pure Manila but in some unaccountable 
manner a spool of Sisal had gotten into the rope. 
It was discovered and reported, with the sugges- 
tion that it would be well to write the customer 
regarding it. "Very well," said the treasurer, 
** let it lie a few days " ; at the end of which the 
treasurer sent word to undo the rope, take the 
Sisal out, and relay it. It must be all Manila. 
Reputation was at stake. A letter would not 
explain if such a rope had come into the hands 
of his competitors. No, the sagacity and busi- 
ness integrity of the management would not 
allow it to pass, and this high and honest stand- 



[92] 

ard is the thing that has made the name of the 
Plymouth Cordage Company to be depended 
upon the world over. 

Such has its effect upon the moral life of the 
men em{)loyed. Moral degeneration may be 
cultivated by a dishonest principle in manu- 
facturing. 

We have a striking case in point in Scottish 
history. From about the year 1700 to 1800 the 
manufacture of silk gauzes and fine lawns 
flourished in Paisley. This business afforded 
excellent wages, sobriety and frugality being 
the general character of the Paisley weaver. 
Nearly one half of the town at that period was 
built and owned by the weavers. Each had his 
garden; many became excellent florists; some 
had a tolerable library, and all were politicians. 

About the period of the French revolution 
Mr. William Pitt expressed more fear of the un- 
restricted political discussions of the Paisley 
weaver than of ten thousand armed men. 

Significantly enough the period of Paisley's 
decadence began with the manufacture of a 
sham, an incentive to human vanity and pre- 
tence. The introduction of imitation Indian 
shawls paralyzed finally that grand body of 



[93] 

people and crowded the town with half-informed 
radicals and infidels. 

This, sir, is the thing upon which I congratu- 
late you most. By the honesty of your methods 
in business, you are teaching the manufacturing 
industries of the United States and Canada, if 
not of the world, that the true foundation for 
lasting business prosperity is righteousness and 
truth. May you live long to magnify your place 
along the lines which you so successfully have 
carried out for half a century. (Applause.) 



A FIFTY-STRAND LAY 
BY MR. E. D. VER PLANCK 



President Loring said: 

You have heard in prose, and in good prose, whet our eminent 
Company has to say on this occasion, but it is noxo my agreeable 
duty to summon us, as a last recourse, the poetic muse to crown 
our banquet. He is something more than a poet, an able helper 
and friend of Mr. Holmes. I present Mr. E. D. Ver Planck. 



A FIFTY-STRAND LAY 

E. D. Ver Planck 



ISTEN, my neighbors, and you shall hear, 
How *'Good Friend Holmes'* began his 



L -- -. 

career ; 
'T was March twenty-eight, in the year fifty- 
nine, 
How few of us here can remember the time ! 

He said to his friends, "I cannot go more 
With the girls and the boys to play on the shore ; 
I go to bed early, so early to rise. 
For I must be healthy, get wealthy and wise. 

"To-morrow I take up the fight of my life; 
The Cordage mill wants me to join in the strife. 
And to show them, as only ambitious boys can, 
How to sweep out an office on an up-to-date 
plan." 

So he said to his friends, "Good-night" and 

"Sweet dreams," 
Just as the moon threw down her bright beams. 



[98] 

And lighted the waters of Massachusetts Bay, 
Where, in years that are gone, the "Mayflower" 
lay. 

And he made a resolve, that at home or afar 
He would never partake of refreshment from bar 
But from that now before him, a form purified 
By the ebb and the flow of old Plymouth's tide. 

lie lighted his candle and crept up to bed. 
With visions of power, and might in his head. 
Whatever this life held of joy, or of sorrow. 
Awaited his bow and his plunge on the morrow. 

Next morning this boy, on March twenty-eight, 
Is brought back to earth, and the problem of fate. 
By the clatter of footsteps, a knock at the door, 
A summons to work at the mill by the shore. 

A hurry of feet, a form in the dark. 

The shape of a boy, pressing on for the mark. 

That was all ! And yet, through the light and 

the gloom, 
A future was then being carved by a broom. 

You know the rest ! How from broom to the pen 
He worked his way up to a leader of men; 




SPINNING AND ROPE-MAKING MACIIINKRY 



[99] 

How the company prospered, and mill, and then 

mill. 
Was added, and made to respond to his will; 

How National Cordage loomed up as a master, 
To buy out the works or inflict a disaster. 
How the Plymouth turned out ball for ball. 
And bade defiance to one and all; 

How the years of panic, and stress, and strain. 
Have done their worst, but all in vain. 
The wheels turn round, the whistle blows. 
The sound from Plymouth to Welland goes. 

From Northern mounts of ice and snow. 
To Tropic sands, the Products go. 
And like the flag, marking England's scope. 
The Sun never sets on Plymouth Rope. 

Ambitions, yet jealous of honor and name. 
Conservative, weighing with heart and with 

brain. 
Progressive, — and silent, — these attributes 

made 
The Leader, the Nestor, the Sphinx of the trade. 



[100] 

"Good Friend Holmes," though silver-crowned, 
Is physically, mentally, heartily, sound; 
And to-day we celebrate, all forgetful of strife. 
The Golden Wedding of his business life. 

Best wishes are his, for a future replete 

With all the good things that makes life com- 
plete ; 

The Directors, Stockholders, Employees, all 
pray 

For very many happy returns of the day. 

(Applause.) 



"LINES" 
BY MR. WILLIS K. HEATH 



President Loring said: 

After being tvnsted up in Mr. Ver Planclcs poem we have got 
all snarled up in some other "lines." 

TJie oldest member of our office force and its venerated head lias 
contributed to this occasion some *' lines" which his voice will 
not allow him to read himself, bid Mr. Crocker wiU now present 
an original poem by Mr. Willis K. Heath. 



"LINES" 

Willis K. Heath 

VACATIONS — they are not for him - 
About one year in ten 
He takes a few weeks off, but vows 
He will not go again. 

*'I get more rest and have more fun," 

We 've often heard him say, 
"By sailing down off Manomet 

And fishing half a day." 

Nor does he always go alone; 

He likes well to divide 
The pleasure with his friends around 

As partners of the tide. 

There 's one old friend who joins him oft — 

A fisherman is he — 
His name I will not here divulge. 

But it begins with T. 



[104] 

T's fish are of the sportive sort; 

They die, but still they grow; 
'T wixt here and Boston, I have heard. 

They double up or so. 

Not so with Mr. Holmes's fish; 

They 're the old-fashioned kind. 
Weigh sixteen ounces to the pound, 

And often hard to find. 

Cod, haddock, smelt, and mackerel — 

They all come in to him — 
He 's apt to fill his canvas bag 

Up to its very brim. 

The query comes: Why this success.? 

Why such a catch of fish ? 
You want to know the reason, friends, 

I '11 gratify your wish. 

He catches fish, a lot of them. 
And sells our rope and twine. 

Because he learned long, long ago 
Just where to drop a line. 

(Applause.) 



COMMITTEES 



COMMITTEES 

ARRANGEMENTS 

Augustus P. Loring, CJiairman Edward K. Harris 

Schuyler S. Bartlett Francis C. Holmes 

Robert A. Brown W. E. C. Nazro 

Walter H. Brown William L. Putnam 

B. Preston Clark Thomas S. Hobbs 

George G. Crocker Edmond J. Lindsay 

John H. Damon Henry F. Stoddard 



INVITATIONS 

B. Preston Clark, Cliairman Francis C. Holmes 

T. Allen Bagnell Charles W. Leach 

Edward B. Bayley Harvey A. Soule 

Willis K. Heath Ahira B. Kelley 



SEATING 

Schuyler S. Bartlett, Charles J. Stegmaier 

Chairman Henry L. Stegmaier 
John A. Beever Thomas Swan 

Richard B. Brown Edward S. Thayer 

Edward D. Ver Planck 



[108] 

BUILDING AND DECORATIONS 
John H. Damon, Chairman Wm. Ingles Gay 
Walter H. Brown W. E. C. Nazro 

Wm. E. Churchill John E. Wright 

MUSIC 
John H. Damon, Chairman Robert A. Brown 
Francis C. Holmes 

TRANSPORTATION 
Francis C. Holmes, Chairman George G. Crocker 
H. K. Smith (Welland) 

STOCKHOLDERS' TESTIMONIAL 
William L. Putnam, Chairman James D. Thurber 
Percival Lowell Henry M. Willlajus 

Frank P. Priest 

ADDRESSES AND PRINTING 
George G. Crocker, Chairman W. E. C. Nazro 
Charles S. Davis Chas. S. Rackemann 

Ahira B. Kelley Ellery Stedman 

PRESENTATION 
James Frothingham, Chairman Richard McLean 
Mathias Grozenger Edward P. Noyes 

James F. E^endrick Philip Schaich 

Alexander McLean George Swan 




SCENES AT THE BANQUET 



[109] 



USHERS FOR THE BALL 
John D. Brewer, Head Usher 



Daniel G. Brown 
Luther A. Cook 
Willis F. Cash 
John L. Karle 
Jacob H. Dries 
Horatio S. Everson 
George W. Griffin 
Elmer E. Harlow 
Axel E. T. Hultenius 
Adam Peck 



Julius Peck 
William S. Pierce 
Simon D. Robichau 
Charles J. Sanderson 
Philip M. Stegmaier 
Nicholas Stephan 
Harry H. Sampson 
Colombo J. Tassinari 
George S. Thom 
Channing H. Winsor 



DANCING AND RECEPTION 
Henry W. Barnes, Chairman Capt. Chas. C. Doten 
John Armstrong 



Charles B. Beytes 
John D. Brewer 
Thomas F. Cavanaugh 
A. Leslie Christie 



Charles J. Grandi 
Daniel A. Johnson 
Lewis Morton 
Wm. W. Myrick 
James Spooner 



John A. Skakle 



USHERS AND GUIDES 
Robert A. Brown, Chairman Wm. H, Cobb 
John D. Brewer Wm. B. Cameron 

John A. Skakle Frank P. Daniels 

Wm. W. Brewster, 2d Wm. C. Eldridge 



[110] 



USHERS AND 
Da\'id Edgar 
Jesse L. Gould 
Francis C. Holmes 
Daniel J. McLean 
George L. Phillips 
Robert Thom 
Henry L. Stegmaier 
Richard B. Brown 
John A. Beever 



GUIDES — continued 
Thomas Swan 
Charles J. Stegmaier 
Harvey A. Soule 
T. Allen Bagnell 
Ahira B. Kelley 
MiLO C. Dodge 
Daniel M. Bosworth 
Alfred L. Barnes 
Frank C. Kelley 



Miss Bess L. Allen Miss Ava W. Phinney 

Miss Annie M. C. Anderson Miss M1^.bel F. Read 



Miss Susan M. Barrows 
Miss Masel H. Beytes 
Miss Bessie W. Davis 
Miss Mary L. Dunbar 
Mrs. George Gould 
Miss Helen C. IL^.thaway 
Miss Alice E. Higgins 



Miss Marion W. Beytes 
Miss Maud B. Colcord 
Miss Mary E. Goddard 
Miss Florence Holbrook 
Miss Bessie R. Holmes 
Mrs. Mary E. Moore 
Miss Ella M. Urquhart 



Miss Elizabeth P. Holmes Miss Allena E. Ward 
Miss Rose W. Howland Miss Harriet S. Warren 
Miss Christine K. Rudolph 



SKETCH OF THE 

LIFE OF GIDEON FRANCIS HOLMES 

1843 TO 1909 



Presented by President Loring of the Plymouth Cordage 
Company at the Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Mr. 
Holmes' connection with the Company, March 27, 1909- 




PORTRAIT OF GIDEON F. HOLMES 

(Reproduced from Oil Painting by Gaugengigl) 



GIDEON FRANCIS HOLMES 

GIDEON FRANCIS HOLMES was 
born December 21, 1843, in the old 
gambrel roofed house just back of 
where Mr. McLean lives, about a quarter of a 
mile southeast of the Cordage Works. He was 
the ninth child in a family of thirteen. His 
father was David C. Holmes and his mother 
Louisa Savery, both of old Puritan stock. In 
the direct male line Gideon was descended in 
the seventh generation from John Holmes, origin 
unknown, who was living in Plymouth in 1632, 
and in 1634 was messenger of the General Court. 
In the eighth generation he is descended from 
Richard Warren, merchant, who came over in 
the "Mayflower" in 1620, and Elizabeth Jouatt 
Marsh who came in the "Ann" in 1623. Rich- 
ard's brother John came to Salem with Winthrop 
in the "Arbella" in 1630 — and the family ap- 
pears to have been of some consequence in 
England. Gideon is also descended in the sev- 
enth generation from Edward Doten or Doty 



[114] 

who came in the "Mayflower" in 1620, and 
Faith Clark who came in the "Francis" in 1634. 
Also in the eighth generation from Francis 
Cooke, who came in the "Mayflower," and 
Esther who came in the "Ann." 

Gideon's father, David, worked for the Ply- 
mouth Cordage Company hackling hemp, and 
with the aid of his children, conducted the farm 
on which he lived. Even after his retirement 
from active duties he was for years called upon 
to superintend the Company's annual stock 
taking. Before his marriage he had gone to 
sea with his father, who was a sea captain, 
fishing on the Grand Banks in summer, and 
in winter trading to the southern ports of the 
United States and West Indies, bringing back 
in the spring a cargo of tobacco, molasses, and 
West India goods. 

It does not require a violent stretch of the 
imagination to say that Gideon inherited his 
aptitude for trade, and his fondness for the sea 
and fishing. 

Gideon's father was a church member, and a 
Puritan to the backbone. He kept a horse and 
wagon which he occasionally let to his neigh- 
bors; but the team never was let on Sundays, 



[115] 

except for a funeral or in case of sickness, and 
then he would take no pay for its use. The 
horse had, however, the regular Sabbath duty 
of taking to church as many of the family as 
the carriage would accommodate. There was 
no rambling through the woods or orchards 
on Sunday, and as they lived quite a dis- 
tance from the church, the family spent the 
morning in meditation at home, attending 
divine service and Sunday School in the after- 
noon. David Holmes was a strict disciplina- 
rian. A bow and arrow made on Sunday and 
discovered in the hands of one of the children 
on Monday was promptly thrown in the fire. 
He was a man of some education and taught 
an evening school promoted by the Cordage 
Company. 

Some of the conditions of country life half 
a century ago might be almost considered hard- 
ships to-day, but the simple fare and less luxu- 
rious surroundings of Mr. Holmes' boyhood, 
even the attic chamber with its occasional drift 
of snow of a winter's morning, are looked back 
upon with a sense of pleasure as great as any 
which more modern conditions afford to the 
children of to-day. The generous slice of bread 



[116] 

and molasses was just as appetizing as it is to 
the farmer boy of the present. 

The problem of supplying the family larder 
was much simpler then than to-day. In the 
Holmes family, the orchard, the garden, and 
the henyard, as well as the reliable family cow, 
furnished each its contribution. 

Two or three pigs were killed and salted 
down each fall, a beef was purchased from the 
drove, which in those days was driven in the 
autumn from the summer pastures in the hills 
of New Hampshire down through the villages 
of the Cape, until all the beasts were sold. 

A kentle of salt cod, and a barrel of salt 
halibut fins and napes, delicious when soaked 
out and fried with salt pork, were usually pur- 
chased in the fall. In the spring, herring were 
easily caught in the neighboring brooks and 
eaten fresh, or salted, dried, and packed in 
wood ashes for later use. The neighboring bay 
and its shores yielded lobsters and clams with- 
out stint. 

Even when quite a child Gideon got up at 
five o'clock in the morning and worked in the 
field or garden until school at nine, and again 
in the evening helped with the chores. When 



[117] 

about twelve years old he began to drive a coal 
wagon on Saturdays and holidays. Though 
not strong enough to carry in the coal, he 
shoveled it, and filled the baskets. His most 
lively recollection of this work, however, re- 
lates to the exciting races he sometimes brought 
about between his team and the one driven by 
his father. 

When he was five, he nearly ended his career 
by falling into a pool in the clay pit, at the 
westerly end of the present mill No. 2, and was 
only rescued by one of the brick workers as he 
went down for the third time. Wlien Gideon 
reached home on this occasion, his mother 
asking where he had been, he calmly replied, 
"been in a whimming." His mother, having 
perceived his bedraggled appearance, accepted 
his explanation, but thought he had been un- 
fortunate in the choice of a bathing place. She 
proceeded to disrobe him and administer the 
scrubbing which his close contact with the 
sticky clay made necessary. 

The boys were accustomed to add to their 
pocket money by picking berries or doing odd 
bits of work for the neighbors. When Gideon 
was eight, he and two of his brothers cut, split. 



[118] 

jithI put in twenty cords of wood for two of the 
neighbors, 

Gideon's pay when he first went to work for 
llie Cordage Company was three dollars a week, 
which was drawn by his father, who continued 
to draw his pay until he was nineteen years old. 
Although the company made him an extra al- 
lowance foi" shutting the windows of the rope- 
walk after hours, which he kept for himself, he 
did not have much chance to get ahead. 

When about five years old he was desperately 
sick with scarlet fever, and as a youth he was 
not strong and suffered a good deal from head- 
aches, and was considered too delicate to take 
up a trade as his brothers did, when they were 
old enough to be bound out as apprentices. It 
was generally considered that he did not have 
as good a chance as they had, when he went 
into the Cordage Company's office; but not 
every one was of the same opinion. George 
Adams, of Kingston, who, with his brother 
Fred carried on the slaughtering business, was 
considered a very shrewd man. It was said 
of him that he would start in the morning with 
a quarter of beef in his wagon, and return at 
night with a mortgage on some one's farm. lie 



[119] 

took a different view of the matter from most 
people, and stopping his wagon in the road to 
chat with David Holmes in the autumn after 
Gideon went to work, said he thought that on 
the whole Gideon had the best chance of the 
lot. The opportunity was not so wonderful, 
as the will and ability to seize it, and work out 
a remarkable career. 

Gideon entered the service of the company on 
March 28, 1859, being then a handsome but 
not very large boy of fifteen. He had attended 
the high school for a year but had not com- 
pleted his course. He was a good scholar and 
understood what he had been taught. His first 
duty was to sweep out the office and do the 
errands around the works. James Frothing- 
ham, who is still on the company's pay roll, was 
his first boss, and instructed him in his duties. 
It was also his business to help Mr. Damon in 
getting the rope to the scales, and in tagging 
it when weighed. On one occasion, having 
undertaken to weigh some rope, he was re- 
proved for his presumption in assuming a duty 
he was not competent to perform. When not 
otherwise occupied he prepared the strings for 
the tags by cutting across a bobbin of "tally 



[120] 

yarn," which divided the string wound on it into 
convenient lengths. 

The oflSce force consisted of Bourne Spooner, 
treasurer and general manager; Amasa Bart- 
lett, bookkeeper; C. S. Damon, invoice and 
shipping clerk and traveling man; and young 
Holmes, the office boy. 

Business was not very active that year, and 
young Holmes, who never wasted his time or 
opportunities, was out in the ropewalk and 
mill a good deal, helping here and there, and 
picking up knowledge and experience. This 
annoyed one of the overseers, and he com- 
plained to Mr. Spooner; but the other one took 
the pains to come into the office and say that 
Gideon was always welcome, and never in the 
way in his mill. Indeed, from the first day 
that he entered the office there was never a time 
when young Holmes was not ready, willing, and 
anxious to help any one, no matter what his job 
might be; and this trait was soon recognized 
and taken advantage of, so that he had plenty 
to do. 

In 1862 he became invoice clerk and took 
charge of the shipping. A little later, Mr. 
Damon having penetrated to the West and 




EARLY PORTRAITS OF MR. HOLMES 
MR. HOLMES' BIRTHPLACE 



[121] 

brought back a great many orders for small 
rope, the capacity of the ropewalk was stretched 
to its utmost in making the many different sizes, 
which brought additional work on Holmes. In 
1866 one of the mills was burned, and Mr. 
Bartlett falling sick while it was being rebuilt, 
it naturally fell to Mr. Holmes to make up the 
pay roll and pay off the masons, although his 
ability to do so was seriously doubted. 

In 1867, Mr. Bartlett having died, young 
Holmes took full charge of the books, and at the 
annual stock-taking, crawled over the bales of 
hemp in the storehouses and counted them. 
This was anything but light and easy work in 
the stifling heat of a July day, when the tempera- 
ture under the low roof frequently ran above 
one hundred; and he often reached home long 
after hours, soaked with perspiration and pale 
with fatigue ; but the story was still the same, he 
was doing his own work, and helping every one 
else with theirs. How many things he did, and 
how much he accomplished was not appreciated 
until he came down with typhoid fever in 1870. 
Then the books and office work fell behind, and 
an expert accountant came down from Boston 
to straighten them out. He was unable to cope 



[122] 

with the work, and Mr. Holmes was called back 
to the office before he had fairly convalesced, 
and long before he could prudently resume 
work. 

His duties were so manifold that it added 
enormously to his work. An employee coming 
into the office to buy a postage stamp or ask a 
question would interrupt the casting of an ac- 
count or addition of a long column of figures. 
Besides keeping the books he wrote letters, 
bought supplies, billed the customers, and kept 
the office. Mr. Spooner never could abide a 
pencil, and standing in the door of the rope- 
walk shipping out goods on a cold day. Holmes 
had to breathe on his pen to melt the ink be- 
tween every few words he wrote, and sometimes 
the ink froze before the pen reached the paper. 
His wife crocheted gloves without ends to the 
fingers, that his hands might not get too numb 
to hold his pen. And for all this he was paid at 
the rate of fourteen hundred dollars a year. 

The question never seemed to occur to Mr. 
Holmes, but Mrs. Holmes with wifely solici- 
tude sometimes wondered if all his varied ser- 
vices were fully appreciated. Meeting Mr. 
Spooner one day in the road near his house she 



[123] 

asked him what her husband's position really 
was. It seems the census taker had asked her 
the same question the day before and she had 
told him that Mr. Holmes had entered the 
Company's employ when a boy and no one 
had thought to dignify his position with a 
name. Mr. Spooner stopped, looked bewil- 
dered, then told a story about "Jim and 
John," turned and went thoughtfully into the 
house. 

In the early days, while Gideon was still a 
boy living at home, he helped on the farm in 
spite of his long hours at the mill. Work began 
in the mill in the summer at five o'clock, there 
being a recess for breakfast from seven to seven 
forty-five, and the boy was often so faint on his 
way to breakfast, that he dreaded climbing the 
short but sharp rise of land that led to his 
father's door. His mother died when he was 
only eleven years old, and his father married 
again before Gideon went to work for the com- 
pany. The brother nearest his own age having 
gone away Gideon was left without a home 
chum, and began to have a young man's crav- 
ing for a home of his own. So on Aug. 14, 1866, 
he was married to Helen A. Drew. Mrs. 



[124] 

Holmes was a daughter of Abbott Drew, a ship 
carpenter by trade, but at that time and for 
many years superintendent of Water Works for 
the town of Plymouth. To celebrate the occa- 
sion he asked for his first vacation of two weeks, 
and his request was granted, although with 
some hesitation, and his pay was continued, 
though at first it was proposed to stop it during 
his absence. 

The young couple tried to find a house near 
the works, but all those available were too large, 
and they were too proud to take a tenement of 
two rooms which was the only one offering, so 
they boarded in Plymouth for nine months. 
There was no conveyance to the works; it was 
a long walk at all times, and a hard walk in 
winter; especially this winter of 1866, which 
was memorable for its heavy snows. On one 
occasion the Plymouth train was stalled for 
three days near Halifax, and yet Mr. Holmes 
forced his way home through the driving storm 
to relieve the anxiety of his young wife. When 
he arrived his eyebrows were banked with 
frozen snow, while an enormous icicle covered 
his chin and chest. Finding his way through 
the drifting storm by instinct, as can easily be 



[125] 

supposed, he was in an exhausted condition 
when he reached the door, and could not have 
gone much farther. This was considered a feat 
of suflScient importance to be recorded in the 
local paper. 

In May of the next year after his marriage, 
Mr. Holmes borrowed the money of the Cordage 
Company and purchased the place on which he 
still lives. A very old house then stood on the 
lot, which had been last put in repair in 1826, 
and did not retain many marks of that distant 
experience. Still, it was fairly near the works, 
and it was home. It was necessary to put some 
new shingles on one side of the roof and a bulk- 
head door over the cellar entrance. These im- 
provements, although made after May first, 
impressed the assessors to such a degree that 
they increased the valuation. In 1868 a daughter 
was born and in 1869 a son. 

It was hard sledding to support the family, 
gradually put the house in repair and furnish it, 
pay the interest and something on the principal 
of the loan, and the premiums on the two 
thousand dollars of life insurance that Doctor 
Jones had wisely insisted on his carrying; yet 
he had confidence in himself and in his future. 



[126] 

and dared to assume burdens which would 
have swamped a less capable and persistent 
man. 

He got up at four o'clock now, and milked 
the cow and worked on the place before he went 
to the factory. There was no drainage for the 
house, and he dug and built a cesspool and drain 
with his own hands. His wife remembers how 
pale yet handsome he looked as he smiled up 
from the hole in which he was digging. Neither 
of them knew enough to take something to eat 
early, and his morning's work was done on an 
empty stomach. Nor did he do any less work at 
the factory. His hours were longer than any- 
one else's, and whoever got into trouble or 
was in arrear on his job came to him for help 
and invariably got it. He was so apt to be 
late for his meals that his wife would stand in 
the window, and not put the steak, when they 
had one, or toast on the fire, until she saw 
him coming down the road. He helped his 
father, too; on his way home he would lend 
a hand at putting up the hay or getting in a 
belated crop. In fact, he gave himself in the 
full measure of strength to others, without 
thought for himself. 




J. 












_J 




A 


GROUP 


OF 


LABOR 


DAY 


SHOW 


PICTURES 



[ 127 ] 

He brought home his weekly pay in large 
sheets of currency, which he put in the bottom 
drawer of the bureau, and off which his wife 
cut the bills as she needed them for the daily 
expenses. She was a careful manager, a good 
housekeeper, and made a happy home for him. 
It is true that after her baby was born she was 
not well, and she still remembers the night 
before Thanksgiving when Gideon came home 
to find her ailing, and the baby sick so that she 
was unable to put it down. The fire was nearly 
out and there was no supper; but Gideon soon 
had everything moving along brightly, and after 
supper was over, and the baby soothed and in 
bed, he cleaned and prepared the turkey for the 
next day's dinner. 

No doubt he worked too hard and in 1870 he 
came down with typhoid fever. He tried to get 
up in the morning to milk the cow but could 
not leave his bed. So Mrs. Holmes made her 
first trial at milking, under directions, and suc- 
ceeded in getting half the usual quantity, which 
was not bad for a beginner. As he had stuck 
to his work too long, so he began it again too 
soon, and it is a wonder that he came through 
so well, but his indomitable spirit supported him. 



[128] 

There was a row of ancient apple trees along 
the wall, so old and neglected that they bore no 
fruit. Mr. Holmes employed the local orchard- 
ist to prune these, and the second year they 
blossomed and bore promise of fruit on the south 
side, where they somewhat overhung the fence. 
Anyone who knows Mr. Holmes' fondness for 
fruit in general, and for apples in particular, can 
easily imagine the interest with which he watched 
their growth. Every evening he made the cir- 
cuit of the apple trees. At last, when the apples 
were red and plump and nearly ready for pick- 
ing, a wagon full of empty barrels was driven 
into the pasture, and a man, assisted by two 
boys, proceeded to beat the apples from the 
trees with long poles, in sight of Mrs. Holmes, 
who was ill and could not interfere, and drove 
away before Mr. Holmes came home to dinner. 
He said he was glad he had not been there, as 
he was afraid he might have said or done some- 
thing he might regret. However, he went to 
the neighbor, who disclaimed having directed 
the raid, but said, nevertheless, that the action 
was within his legal rights, as the trees over- 
hung his pasture. As he was supposed to be a 
person learned in the law, Mr. Holmes accepted 



[129] 

his exposition of the case, and swallowed his 
disappointment. The case was all the harder, 
as the pasture w^as used for sheep, and Mr. 
Holmes had been more than attentive in return- 
ing to their mothers the lambs which crawled 
through the fence. There is no truer saying 
than that *'It makes all the difference whose ox 
is gored.'* Somewhat later the neighbor was 
subjected to similar treatment by one of his 
other neighbors, sued him for trespass, and re- 
covered damages, distinctly establishing that 
the law as he had stated it to Mr. Holmes was 
wrong, and that the apples had been wrongfully 
picked. 

Though chronologically out of place, I men- 
tion here another incident which illustrates Mr. 
Holmes' evenness of temper and ability to see 
the other point of view. In 1895 he went to 
Nassau on a short trip. There he heard a good 
deal about the vexatious strictness of the Col- 
lector of Customs at Miami, and therefore 
watched with some interest that officer examine 
the luggage which belonged to him and other 
returning tourists, which he did in a thorough 
manner. Later in the day, meeting him at a 
hotel, he accosted him and asked if he was the 



[130] 

collector, to which question the man answered 
rather gruffly that he was. "Well, then," said 
Mr. Holmes, *'they talk about you a good deal 
in Nassau, but I want to say that I watched you 
carefully, and I do not see how the collector of 
this port could do his duty, and do less than you 
did." The collector stood astonished for a 
minute, then grasping his hand said, "Sir, you 
are the only man that ever spoke to me like that. 
Anything that the collector of the port of Miami 
can ever do for you will be gladly done." 

The next year after the apple episode the 
sheep were removed from the neighbor's pasture 
and it came up a sea of red clover. A swarm of 
bees from his father's place lit in Mr. Holmes' 
orchard, and with his father's consent he hived 
them. In less than two weeks they had filled 
the boxes with honey from the neighbor's clover. 
Truly a sweet reprisal for the plundered apples. 

For eight years the young couple lived in the 
old house, and then, before it was quite paid for 
it got beyond repair, and although it was like 
parting from an old friend, they tore it down 
and built the house in which they now live. 

One of Mr. Holmes' brothers did the car- 
penter work, another the mason work and 



[131] 

plastering, and a third the plumbing. There 
was no painter in the family. The house was 
not only well built, but at that time was the 
most modern and convenient house in town. 
There were many calls on Mr. Holmes for as- 
sistance. He had taken one of his relatives to 
live with him, and not seldom aided less fortu- 
nate members of the family. Still he managed 
to get ahead slowly, although it was eleven 
years more before the house was fully furnished. 
Mr. Holmes gave early evidence of his trad- 
ing instinct. There was a piece of land lying 
between the ropewalk and the sea, belonging 
to one Jackson, which Mr. Spooner was anxious 
to buy; but he had offended Jackson, who 
used the land to get seaweed to bank up his 
house, by teUing him that the reason he wanted 
the land was so that he should not be going there 
— so negotiations had come to an end. When 
Jackson wanted money he was in the habit of 
selling a piece of land, and Holmes noticed that 
he was around on days when Mr. Spooner was 
not there, and therefore concluded that he was 
in need of money, and took pains to find out how 
much he needed. The amount was more than 
that lot was worth, but he owned other lands 



[132] 

which adjoined the land of the company, so on 
a spring day of 1872, when Mr. Spooner was in 
Boston, Jackson dropped into the office, and 
began to talk about the weather and farming, 
and they soon began to talk trade. It was Jack- 
son's object to get the money he wanted for the 
land below the ropewalk. It was Holmes' ob- 
ject to get all the land he could, and his money's 
worth ; after a long trade, it ended in Jackson's 
getting the amount of money he wanted, but the 
company's getting three lots of land. After he 
had made the bargain, young Holmes had many 
qualms for fear that he had gone too far in buy- 
ing three lots instead of one, so Mr. Spooner's 
warm approval on his return from Boston came 
as a great relief. 

Mr. Charles Spooner was not a well man, 
and on one or two occasions when he had been 
absent the directors had given others in the 
office authority to sign drafts and checks. In 
March, 1875, the same year in which Mr. 
Holmes built his new house, Mr. Spooner was 
given six months' leave of absence, and the 
directors voted to give "Gideon F. Holmes 
power to sign checks," and *'to do generally 
such things as the treasurer and superintendent 



*- 




[133] 

might do if he were present." In October of 
the same year the treasurer was given eight 
months' leave of absence, and Mr. Holmes 
again acted for him with full powers. He seems 
to have acquitted himself well of the responsi- 
bility, and the company paid its usual dividend 
of twenty per cent, wliich was increased in 1877 
to thirty-five per cent. 

In September, 1880, the directors again put 
Mr. Holmes in full charge of the company, and 
on February 3, 1882, Mr. Spooner, the treasurer, 
having informed the board that he was too sick 
to perform the duties of his office, it was voted 
that Mr. Gideon F. Holmes have full power 
during the sickness of the treasurer to perform 
the duties of his office. On Februray 14, of the 
same year, the directors made an allowance to 
Mr. Holmes of one thousand dollars for past 
services, and placed his salary at four thousand 
dollars. 

On March 11, the board passed resolutions 
on the death of Mr. Spooner, and appointed 
Mr. Holmes to perform the duties of treasurer 
until a new one should be elected. On Septem- 
ber 12, 1882, he was duly elected treasurer at 
the annual meeting of the stockholders, which 



[134] 

office he still fills. From that day to this, his 
biography has been largely the history of the 
company, so completely has he devoted himself 
to its work. 

The sales for 1883, the first year that Mr. 
Holmes had full charge, amounted to nearly ten 
million five hundred thousand pounds, nearly 
two million pounds less than they had been in 
the preceding year; largely due to the fact that 
the sales to the Samuel Cupples Company of St. 
Louis were very much smaller than they had 
been previously. For some years before this, 
these parties had absorbed about forty per cent 
of the company's output; but they did this at 
very low prices, and insisted on large allowances, 
which ran as high as one hundred thousand 
dollars in a year. For some time Mr. Holmes 
had felt that there was little or no profit in the 
business received from them, and had often so 
expressed himself to Mr. Spooner, so on assum- 
ing management he insisted on a fair profit, and 
the Cupples Company went elsewhere for their 
goods. Although the sales in this year were 
less, the profits were more, and in a short time 
other channels were found, so the trade of the 
Cupples Company was not missed. 



[135] 

Mr. Holmes was put in charge, with consider- 
able hesitation, by the directors, who also con- 
trolled the stock. They well knew his faithful- 
ness, zeal, and qualifications as a manufacturer; 
but they had no idea of his pre-eminent ability 
as a merchant, and it was on this point that they 
hesitated. If inherited tendency could be de- 
pended on, there was sufficient in his family his- 
tory to reassure them. But the situation was 
peculiar. Charles Spooner had been an East 
India merchant and had lived in China and 
traveled much. Bourne Spooner was also a 
trained and experienced merchant, and man of 
affairs, who had seen a good deal of other parts 
of the world. The company's raw material 
came from Russia, the East Indies, and other 
remote countries, and the selling of the product 
was not the least important part of the treasurer's 
duty. Certainly a merchant was needed. Mr. 
Holmes had achieved his triumphs and gained 
his experience almost entirely in his native town, 
and there were grave doubts whether his train- 
ing was broad enough for the requirements of 
the business. Then there was a feeling that no 
one but a Spooner could manage the company, 
and so some of the stockholders sold their stock. 



[136] 

It is fair to say that the same thing happened 
when Charles Spooner succeeded his father. 

Mr. Holmes was scarcely in office before he 
began to ask for more machinery, and the di- 
rectors honored his call, although the policy of 
increasing the plant was a debatable one at that 
time. Since 1878 the cordage manufacturers 
had been united in a pool, by the rules of which a 
certain percentage of the total business was al- 
lotted to each company. If a company made 
more than its allotment, it paid a profit on the 
excess into the pool, which was distributed 
among those who made less than their allotted 
share. Some manufacturers found it profitable 
to close their factories and draw their profits 
from the pool. There was no risk in pursuing 
that course; but such was not the policy ad- 
vocated by Mr. Holmes and pursued by the 
directors of the Plymouth Cordage Company. 
They took every means to extend the company's 
business, even at the expense of less profit in 
the present; and at every renewal of the pool, 
Plymouth got a larger percentage, and when 
the system was finally abandoned, had largely 
increased its market and reputation. 

The formation and management of these 



[137] 

pools, and the awarding of the percentages led 
to much friction ; and such votes as this appear 
on the directors' records: *'In the opinion of 
the directors the experience of the last nine 
months proves that the present combination 
works great injustice to this company and we 
therefore demand that our percentage should 
be increased"; but here Mr. Holmes' tact and 
straightforward diplomacy was conspicuous in 
smoothing out difficulties and eliminating fric- 
tion, and his good-natured tenacity won him 
many victories. As one of his competitors said, 
"Holmes is always putting out his foot for busi- 
ness — and once he gets it in he never with- 
draws." 

January 3, 1885, the company met with a 
disastrous fire. On the fifth the directors au- 
thorized the treasurer to roof in the building, 
which had been used as a machine shop before 
the fire, and to use any of the other buildings he 
saw fit for that purpose. They also authorized 
him to have one hundred spinners made outside. 
On February 19, 1885, Mr. E. D. Leavitt and 
Mr. Stephen Greene, engineers, were requested 
to report on the best disposition of the buildings, 
boilers, and engines, taking into consideration 



[138] 

all questions bearing on future growth and 
economical working; and the treasurer (Mr. 
Holmes) was requested to estimate and report 
on the machinery. On March 19, 1885, both 
reports were adopted, and the beginning of the 
new Plymouth Cordage Company was made. 
The remaining old mills, excepting only the rope- 
walk, were so inferior to the new, that they also 
were torn down and rebuilt; so that the plant, 
as it exists to-day, has grown up and developed 
under the guidance and administration of Mr. 
Holmes. 

The rebuilding and extension of the plant at 
Plymouth are not the only triumphs of his ad- 
ministration in this direction, since in 1905 was 
begun the very complete and fine plant at Wel- 
land, Ontario, which has successfully extended 
the activity and traditions of Plymouth to 
Canada. 

When Mr. Holmes entered the employment 
of the company in 1859, the directors were 
Bourne Spooner, John Russell, John A. Dodd, 
Levi II. Marsh, and Benjamin S. Rotch. Caleb 
W. Loring was clerk. The annual output of the 
company was 3,750,000 pounds, and there were 
one hundred and eighteen hands employed on 



[139] 

an average ; the pay roll, including all salaries, 
amounted to $39,450, and the business did not 
extend west of Buffalo. 

When he became treasurer in 1882, the direc- 
tors were John A. Dodd, president, Caleb W. 
Loring, George G. Crocker, Schuyler S. Bart- 
lett, and L. A. Plummer. The output amounted 
to 12,000,000 pounds a year. There were three 
hundred and three hands employed; the pay 
roll amounted to $131,473.66, and the business 
extended generally west to the Mississippi. 

Now the directors are Augustus P. Loring, 
president, George G. Crocker, Schuyler S. Bart- 
lett, William L. Putnam, and B. Preston Clark. 
The yearly business is 90,700,000 pounds. 
There are 1,625 hands employed, the pay roll is 
$764,500, and the business covers all parts of 
North America, extends as far east as Turkey, 
and covers many parts of South America and 
Africa. 

To produce the present output, in the way it 
was produced in 1859, would require 2,850 
hands, or in the way it was produced in 1882, 
would require 2,270 hands. 

Although the company was temporarily dis- 
abled by the fire, some of the directors, and es- 



[140] 

pecially Mr. Dodd, were averse to a renewal of 
the pool, but Mr. Holmes felt strongly that the 
company would benefit by its renewal. On 
May 8, the president (Mr. Dodd) and the 
treasurer (Mr. Holmes) were authorized to 
attend a meeting in New York and assent to a 
new pool. In spite of the difficulties of the situ- 
ation, it being obvious that the Plymouth Com- 
pany was out of the field as a producer, at least 
for a considerable time, and Mr. Dodd opposing, 
yet Mr. Holmes, by rare tact and superior di- 
plomacy, succeeded in having the pool renewed, 
which enabled the company to draw a profit, and 
pay a dividend during the period of rebuilding, 
which would otherwise have been a dry season. 
In July the directors voted that the company 
should not remain in the pool unless the stock 
on hand of all the companies on July 1 was 
turned in. Such an ultimatum communicated 
to the other members of the })ool would have 
ended, in all probability, what had been so 
laboriously brought together. A few days later 
they reconsidered and voted that it was inex- 
pedient to remain in the pool, but gave the 
treasurer full powers to deal with the situation 
— which he did to the satisfaction of all con- 





ENTRANCE TO GROUNDS 
OFFICE OF PLYMOUTH CORDAGE CO. 



[141] 

cerned, and as a matter of fact, the goods on 
hand were turned in. 

In 1887 the pool broke up and a combination 
of all the large cordage companies in the United 
States was planned in New York; and in 1889, 
a combination of about seventy per cent of the 
spindles in the country was formed, into which 
every means was resorted to in order to force 
the Plymouth Company to join. Ruinous com- 
petition was threatened and tried, and in 1892, 
a large interest in the Plymouth stock was ac- 
quired. Officers and employees alike were 
assailed with bribes and threats, and a few of 
the employees left Plymouth and took employ- 
ment with the Trust; but Mr. Holmes, who 
was now recognized as one of the most impor- 
tant men in the industry, declined every induce- 
ment (though after he had declined a large 
salary and bonus, he was asked to name his own 
figure), and remained steadfast in his allegiance 
to the company and the men. He knew that he 
could get suddenly rich if he sold himself and 
the company to the New Yorkers, but he did 
not care for wealth at that price. So he stood 
shoulder to shoulder with the directors and 
carried through the fight to the end — which 



[142] 

was victory. In spite of his uncomplying posi- 
tion he retained not only the good opinion, but 
also the friendship of the men he fought, and 
came to be recognized as the ablest cordage 
manufacturer of the country. 

From the day of its organization to this day, 
it has been the policy and pride of the Plymouth 
Cordage Company to make the best rope that 
can be made, and never to adulterate or debase 
its product. This tradition has been carried 
forward and fostered by Mr. Holmes with the 
great power which he possesses to accomplish 
whatever he undertakes. He is too honest to 
make a dishonest rope. Thus Plymouth rope 
has acquired a well merited reputation in the 
trade, and being pretty nearly a standard, finds 
a ready and steady sale at all times. 

It was the lack of the Plymouth Company and 
its prestige and methods that led as much as 
anything else to the downfall of the combina- 
tion in 1893. 

Having failed in controlling the manufacture 
and sale of the finished product, the New York 
parties got up a combination to control the pur- 
chase of the raw material acting through the 
National Company as agent, and Mr. Holmes, 



[143] 

representing his own company, became one of 
the committee to purchase fiber. It was not 
long before Plymouth experienced difficulty in 
getting its raw material. In October, 1890, 
matters came to a head, and Mr. Holmes, with 
the authority of the directors, went into the open 
market to purchase fiber. There was a large lot 
of manila in New York which belonged to the 
Plymouth Company, but which was still in the 
hands of the National Company. This was 
sorely needed at Plymouth to keep the mills 
running; but the only way to get it seemed to 
be by a replevin suit. Arrangements were made 
with a Boston banking firm to have their New 
York correspondents go as sureties on the re- 
plevin bond, and Mr. Holmes went to New 
York to get the hemp. On arrival he found that 
the hemp had been put on a lighter in the harbor. 
It appeared that the New York member of the 
Boston banking firm had incautiously asked 
the National people if they had any objection to 
his going on the bond, and the hint was sufficient, 
the lighter and the hemp disappeared. 

INIr. Holmes and his counsel, Mr. Cadwal- 
lader, took the bull by the horns, and at once 
called on the National people. They repre- 



[144] 

sented the case so strongly, that the lighter was 
forthcoming. This episode did not end here. 
The Boston bankers were a good deal chagrined 
by the action of their New York correspondent, 
and assured Mr. Holmes that they were at his 
service, if there was ever a time when they could 
do anything for him, to repair their error. In 
1893 came the panic, and in the week when it 
was at its height, when money was eighteen per 
cent, and could not be got even at that rate, the 
Plymouth Cordage Company had notes falling 
due which must be paid, to the amount of two 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There was 
due to the company one million four hundred 
thousand dollars, not one cent of which could 
then be collected, although in the end all was 
paid. In this pinch Mr. Holmes went to the 
bankers, who remembered their promise with- 
out being reminded, and sold sixty-day bills to 
the amount of fifteen thousand pounds to the 
company, which was equivalent to procuring a 
foreign loan at six per cent. There is no doubt 
that the high personal regard which they had 
for Mr. Holmes was an important factor in the 
result. Some of the directors pledged their 
credit, and with hard work on the part of the 



[145] 

officers, the company came through the storm 
with flying colors. Undoubtedly too large 
credits had been given to certain parties, but the 
lesson was a sharp one, and none of the officials 
concerned are likely to repeat the mistake. 

Mr. Holmes was among the first manufact- 
urers to realize the coming importance of the 
binder twine business, and he began its manu- 
facture in the first year of his treasurership. This 
twine, which is much like the ordinary rope 
yarn, is used in the reaping machines to bind the 
sheaves automatically. When the grain is 
thrashed the band is cut and thrown aside, never 
to be used again. The result is an enormous 
annual consumption of twine, our share last 
year amounting to fifty-eight million pounds. 
In 1891 were made the first large contracts with 
harvesting machine men for handling the com- 
pany's output in connection with the machine 
business ; one of these contracts was with Lind- 
say Brothers of Milwaukee, of which Mr. E. J. 
Lindsay, the managing partner, has become 
one of Mr. Holmes' warm personal friends. In 
1892 it was found necessary to run the mills at 
night to meet the increasing demand. 

The records of the directors of the company 



[146] 

show that they were not slow in appreciating 
Mr. Holmes' great ability. On September 3, 
1895, they voted "That the congratulations of 
the directors be offered to Mr. Holmes on the 
surprising success of his management of the 
company's business during the past year." 
August 16, 1898, they voted "That in consider- 
ation of the severe labor and responsibility of his 
services during the past year, and in recognition 
of the very exceptional ability he has displayed, 
an addition of five thousand dollars be made to 
the salary of the treasurer." Nobody could call 
this an empty compliment, and similar votes 
appear in the records in subsequent years. In- 
deed, Mr. Holmes has not only held the appreci- 
ation and confidence of the directors, but he has 
won their affectionate personal regard. 

Although he was endowed with a good con- 
stitution, such hard work and such a strenuous 
life as Mr. Holmes led necessarily affected his 
health. In 1899 he had a sharp attack of bron- 
chitis, and in November he was given three 
months' leave of absence with full pay, and his 
son, Mr. F. C. Holmes, acted acceptably as 
assistant treasurer during his absence. He 
spent the time in Bermuda; but he began too 




BASEBALL ON THE CORDAGE FIELD 

ENTRANCE NUMBER ONE MILL 

AT THE LABOR DAY FAIR 



[147] 

late in life to acquire the vacation habit, and he 
has taken no long vacation since. He prefers to 
take his recreation by a day's fishing off the 
Gurnet in his tidy thirty-foot auxiliary, or to 
spend a week in the woods fishing with his friend, 
Mr. Thayer. Hunting goes against his gentle 
nature. For years he enjoyed an afternoon's 
drive behind a good horse, but he is always up 
to time, and now scurries over the road in an 
automobile. He takes great pleasure in the 
cultivation of fruit and flowers, and likes a good 
field of grass as well as a handsome bed of pan- 
sies, and he raises both with conspicuous suc- 
cess. He is justly proud of his one charming 
little grandchild. 

The hard path Mr. Holmes had to travel in 
his early years, while he was working his way up 
in the company, gave him a clear understanding 
of the laboring men's position, while his kindly 
nature and broad mind enlisted his sympathetic 
regard for them and everything conducing to 
their welfare, a regard which was, and is, re- 
turned by them by a strong spirit of personal 
loyalty and affection, which effectually prevents 
friction and misunderstanding. There has been 
no general strike since he has been treasurer. 



[148] 

He has been solicitous that not only the work- 
men, but that also the office force, should be 
well and conveniently housed ; and besides more 
than seventy tenements built during his regime 
for the mill hands, six handsome and modern 
cottages have been built on Holmes Terrace for 
the clerical force. But more than anything else 
Mr. Holmes has seen to it that the conditions 
under which the men work, and the wages and 
hours of labor should be as favorable as possi- 
ble. It has been his pride that the Plymouth 
Cordage Company has always been in advance 
of legislation in shortening the hours of labor. 
Under Mr. Holmes' recommendation in 1892, 
the hours of labor were reduced from sixty to 
fifty-eight a week, at the same pay, and the 
employees celebrated the occasion by a jollifica- 
tion, and presented him with a silver inkstand 
to commemorate the event. 

It was about this time, and when the National 
Company was endeavoring to break up the busi- 
ness at Plymouth, that the Knights of Labor 
were active in organizing the hands there. They 
agitated an advance in wages, and for the same 
pay and conditions that the cordage workers 
had in New York. There was talk of a strike. 



[149] 

and a committee of the Knights employed in the 
mill waited upon Mr. Holmes. He received 
them well, and carefully pointed out to them the 
differences in their favor in the conditions at 
Plymouth over those which prevailed in New 
York. He called to the attention of some of the 
members of the committee, that they them- 
selves having at one time sought work elsewhere, 
had never been easy until they got back to their 
old employment. The committee reported what 
he had said, and the agitation came to an end. 

He takes the greatest interest in their concerts 
and ball games, and they know it. They would 
miss almost anything less than his familiar face 
in the corner window of the oflSce when they 
play ball. Every step in the social betterment 
work for which the company has acquired such 
an enviable reputation has been carried out 
under his immediate direction. In fact, the first 
step in this direction was taken by Mrs. Holmes, 
with his consent, when she established, taught, 
and managed a sloyd school before the com- 
pany had a library, schools, or baths, and other 
facilities for the operatives to get something out 
of life besides hard work. 

In December, 1899, the company appropri- 



[150] 

ated five hundred dollars to be distributed as 
premiums for the best gardens, well kept places, 
and fruits and vegetables during the next sum- 
mer, and Mr. Holmes was one of the largest ex- 
hibitors at the first Labor Day show held in a 
room about fourteen by eighteen feet. Nothing 
gives him greater pleasure than the present 
show, that fills two enormous tents and draws a 
crowd of eight or ten thousand visitors. 

Mr. Holmes has always shown a deep and 
helpful affection for his family, and is never 
happier than when he can gather them around 
him in the cottages, which he has built for their 
use at the edge of the harbor. 

At sixty-five, he is well, strong, still young 
and active. He has risen and achieved success 
without pulling others down. He has won ad- 
miration without envy. He has love in full 
measure, pressed down and overflowing. 



THE END 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 928 563 2 



